COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Empty Property

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he has had with (a) banks and (b) other main mortgage providers on his policies on bringing empty homes back into use.

Mark Prisk: Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations are routinely published on my Department's website.

Food Banks

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities in England had food bank collections on their premises on 1 February (a) 2010 and (b) 2013.

Brandon Lewis: This information is not centrally held.
	I would note the Trussell Trust compile an online food bank network:
	http://www.trusselltrust.org/map

Housing

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department will take steps against local authorities which do not have a local plan and which possess a continuing shortfall in housing land supply; and if he will make a statement.

Nicholas Boles: he National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that local planning authorities should use their evidence base to ensure that their local plan meets the full, objectively assessed needs for market and affordable housing in the housing market area, as far as is consistent with the policies set out in the framework. In doing so, they should look to meet any unmet requirements from neighbouring authorities, where it is reasonable to do so and consistent with achieving sustainable development. The framework also makes clear that local planning authorities should identify a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide five years worth of housing against their housing requirements.
	Where the development plan is absent, silent or relevant policies are out-of-date—such as those for the supply of housing—then the framework indicates that permission for development should be granted unless any adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits, when assessed against the policies in the framework taken as a whole, or specific policies in the framework indicate development should be restricted, for example green belt policy.
	69% of local planning authorities in England now have a local plan at the publication stage or beyond.
	To place this progress in context, six years after the passage of the last Administration's Planning Act 2004, only 57 core strategies had been adopted out of 335 local planning authorities by May 2010.

Housing: Older People

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has advised local authorities that they are able to differentiate specialist housing for older people within their charging schedules under the community infrastructure levy; and which local authorities have done so to date.

Nicholas Boles: The Community Infrastructure Levy regulations and guidance are clear that charging authorities can set differential rates by reference to both zones and the categories of development within its area.
	The guidance also states that charging schedules should not impact disproportionately on particular sectors or specialist forms of development.
	Levy rates are set following consultation and independent examination and they must not undermine the viability of development in the area.
	The Department is not collecting detailed information on individual authorities' levy rates.

Housing: Older People

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what analysis his Department has undertaken on the effect of the community infrastructure levy on specialist housing for older people.

Nicholas Boles: It is early days for implementation of the levy. As outlined in my answer of 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 583W, the Community Infrastructure Levy was a measure introduced under the last Administration, although we are taking a series of steps to improve and reform it.
	Any rates set under the levy must be evidence based and viable. This position is reinforced in regulations and guidance and in the National Planning Policy Framework. Rates must be consulted on and are subject to an independent inquiry.
	The Department is not collecting detailed information on individual authorities' levy rates.

Mayor of London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has for the devolution of additional powers to the Mayor of London; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The Localism Act conferred on the Mayor of London responsibility for housing, economic development and Olympic legacy in London, in addition to existing responsibilities over transport, planning and the police. As a consequence, London is now largely independent of national government in a very significant range of policy areas.
	On 6 February 2012, DCLG agreed with the Greater London Authority a funding settlement to accompany these new powers, which provides them with an extra circa £3 billion in unring-fenced grant from 2011-12 to 2014-15.
	From April 2013 onwards, the Government will be allowing local government to keep a share of business rates. In London, the Greater London Authority and the London boroughs will split the local share of retained business rates. This funding replaces a series of grants that both the Greater London Authority and the boroughs previously received.
	While there is clearly scope for more decentralisation, my Department has no immediate plans to devolve additional powers specifically to the Mayor of London. Devolution of power should also be to the lowest appropriate level—down to councils, to neighbourhoods, to community groups and to individuals. However, the Government will in the near future be publishing its response to the Heseltine review, which included a number of recommendations regarding London.

Public Expenditure

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions he has had with (a) HM Treasury and (b) other Departments on the single funding pot model of regional spending allocation.

Mark Prisk: Since Lord Heseltine published his report ‘No Stone Unturned’ in October 2012, there have been a number of cross-departmental discussions of his recommendations, including the single pot model.
	As announced at the Autumn Statement, the Government will publish a full response in the spring.

Social Rented Housing

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has taken steps to encourage mortgage holders to allow the leasing of their properties to a third party which is a registered housing provider.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 31 January 2013
	Where there is a mortgage outstanding on an empty property, some lenders will allow the owner to grant a lease to a registered housing provider, but this is a commercial decision for lenders.
	There are schemes in the hon. Member's constituency which have received some of our £160 million funding for delivering empty homes as affordable housing. They involve housing providers approaching owners of empty properties and offering to take on a lease for a specified period. The housing provider will pay for the upfront capital works, and receive the rent from the tenant, paying a proportion of that on to the property owner. The investment made by the housing provider will be secured by a second charge on the property behind the mortgage.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many planning applications for wind turbines have been overturned on appeal by the planning inspectorate in (a) Cornwall and (b) England in each of the last three years.

Nicholas Boles: The following tables show for (a) Cornwall and (b) England, in each of last five calendar years, the numbers of planning applications for wind turbines that have been decided on appeal by the planning inspectorate where the local authority refused the application.
	
		
			 (a) Cornwall 
			 Calendar year Allowed Percentage allowed Dismissed Percentage dismissed Total 
			 2008 1 50 1 50 2 
			 2009 1 50 1 50 2 
			 2010 2 100 0 0 2 
			 2011 1 100 0 0 1 
			 2012 4 50 4 50 8 
		
	
	
		
			 (b) England 
			 Calendar year Allowed Percentage allowed Dismissed Percentage dismissed Total 
			 2008 17 43 23 58 40 
			 2009 31 52 29 48 60 
			 2010 35 58 25 42 60 
			 2011 45 55 37 45 82 
			 2012 70 51 66 49 136 
		
	
	Within these figures are a number of appeals for turbines on individual dwellings. The figures do not include appeals against a condition on a planning permission, the non-determination of a planning application by a local authority or for related development such as an anemometer mast for measuring wind speed. The figures do not include appeals decided by the Secretary of State.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many planning applications for wind turbines have been overturned on appeal by the planning inspectorate in (a) Lancashire and (b) England in each of the last three years.

Nicholas Boles: The following tables show for (a) Lancashire and (b) England, in each of last five calendar years, the numbers of planning applications for wind turbines that have been decided on appeal by the planning inspectorate where the local authority refused the application.
	
		
			 (a) Lancashire 
			 Calendar year Allowed Percentage allowed Dismissed Percentage dismissed Total 
			 2008 2 67 1 33 3 
			 2009 1 100 0 0 1 
			 2010 2 100 0 0 2 
			 2011 0 0 1 100 1 
			 2012 2 29 5 71 7 
		
	
	
		
			 (b) England 
			 Calendar year Allowed Percentage allowed Dismissed Percentage dismissed Total 
			 2008 17 43 23 58 40 
			 2009 31 52 29 48 60 
		
	
	
		
			 2010 35 58 25 42 60 
			 2011 45 55 37 45 82 
			 2012 70 51 66 49 136 
		
	
	Within these figures are a number of appeals for turbines on individual dwellings. The figures do not include appeals against a condition on a planning permission, the non-determination of a planning application by a local authority or for related development such as an anemometer mast for measuring wind speed. The figures do not include appeals decided by the Secretary of State.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Frances Andrade

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions in respect of the case of Frances Andrade.

Dominic Grieve: As I set out in the House on the 12 February 2013, Official Report, column 706, in response to the hon. Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra), I meet the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) regularly to discuss a wide range of issues, including the circumstances surrounding the tragic case of Frances Andrade. The DPP is reviewing what happened in this case.
	Both I and the DPP take very seriously any suggestion that victims have not received the support to which they are entitled.

Frances Andrade

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department in respect of the case of Frances Andrade.

Dominic Grieve: I meet regularly with the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), and other criminal justice Ministers to discuss a wide range of issues, including the performance of the criminal justice system. The Secretary of State for the Home Department has set out that the police will review their role in this matter.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Budget March 2013

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential effect of the 2013 Budget on Northern Ireland.

Theresa Villiers: I have regular discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), and other Treasury Ministers on a range of fiscal and economic matters relating to Northern Ireland.

National Crime Agency

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations she has received from political parties in Northern Ireland on the operation of the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland.

Michael Penning: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers), has not received any formal representations from political parties in Northern Ireland on the operation of the National Crime Agency.

National Crime Agency

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the operation of the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland.

Michael Penning: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers), has spoken frequently to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), about the National Crime Agency. Northern Ireland Office and Home Office officials are in contact on a daily basis with each other, and with the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland, and the Secretary of State is updated regularly on progress. The Government remains committed to delivering a UK-wide crime fighting agency focused on tackling serious, organised and complex crime.

National Crime Agency

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to persuade the Northern Ireland Executive to allow the implementation of the National Crime Agency;
	(2)  what discussions she has had with Sinn Fein on the National Crime Agency operating in Northern Ireland;
	(3)  what information her Department holds on the reasons Sinn Fein have blocked the National Crime Agency from operating in Northern Ireland.

Michael Penning: The Northern Ireland Justice Minister, David Ford, has been leading discussions with Northern Ireland political parties about the National Crime Agency. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers), has not discussed the matter in detail with Sinn Fein.
	It is disappointing that despite extensive negotiation and a number of significant amendments to reflect the specific policing and accountability arrangements that exist in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Executive has not chosen to take forward the legislative consent motion for the National Crime Agency.
	Although time is now very limited, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), remain willing to consider proposals by the Executive, which would amend the Crime and Courts Bill to reflect Northern Ireland's specific circumstances. Both the Northern Ireland Office and the Home Office are in close contact with the Department of Justice as plans are developed for the implementation of the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland.

WALES

Buildings

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what occupation costs of each type are incurred for each property used by his Department.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office is based in two locations, London and Cardiff. The types of occupation costs the Office pays for these properties are business rates, utilities and rent for the Cardiff office (which is a leased property).
	In the current financial year to date, we have paid £95,600 rates for our London office and £6,893.40 for utilities.
	The Wales Office has recently moved into a new office in Cardiff and the business rates have yet to be set by Cardiff city council. The rent for the property in Cardiff is £89,958 per annum and the utilities will be charged before the end of the financial year.

Food: Waste

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much surplus food was thrown away by his Department in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office does not have any in-house catering but does host receptions on an ad hoc basis at which food is served. We keep no records of surplus food.

Public Appointments

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people he appointed to public bodies in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; (i) how many and (ii) what proportion of those appointees were (A) black or from an ethnic minority, (B) Hindu, (C) Muslim and (D) Chinese in each of those years; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Crabb: The Secretary of State for Wales, my right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West (Mr Jones), does not make public appointments.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will estimate his Department's total staffing requirement in full-time equivalent posts for fulfilling its minimum statutory obligations.

Stephen Crabb: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 February 2013, Official Report, column 722W.
	The Wales Office's total staffing requirement for fulfilling the Secretary of State for Wales’s statutory obligations could be estimated only at disproportionate cost.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) average, (b) range and (c) maximum length of time is for which asylum seekers in receipt of section 95 support had been receiving that type of support in the last 12 months.

Mark Harper: holding answer 18 December 2012
	We do not hold data on the amount of time people stay on section 95 support in a format that is compatible with National Statistics protocols. It is possible to provide an indication of the average time by taking a snapshot of the management information available about the current section 95 population. The average time is 525 days and more than half of these cases have been supported for less than one year.

Buildings

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) total floor space and (b) floor space measured in square metres per full-time equivalent post is of properties used by her Department.

James Brokenshire: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) The total for disclosable properties and excluding those operated by contractors is 366,583 square metres (12 February 2013).
	(b) This information is only held for administrative offices.
	The Department's office space held for each full-time equivalent staff (at such administrative offices) was 12.4 square metres on 31 March 2012 when it was last calculated under the GPU's annual benchmarking system. Current projection is that this will reduce to 10.4 square metres by 2015 and options to achieve 10.00 square metres or less are being considered.

Communications Data Bill (Draft)

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the revised Communications Data Bill will be published.

James Brokenshire: The Government is committed to legislating to ensure the law enforcement and intelligence agencies continue to have access to the communications data they need. The Joint Committee that scrutinised the draft Bill recognised the importance of communications data as an investigative tool and accepted that there was
	'a case for legislation which will provide the law enforcement authorities with some further access to communications data.'
	A revised Communications Data Bill, incorporating the recommendations of the Joint Committee, will be introduced at the earliest possible opportunity.

Crimestoppers

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to announce allocations of any financial support to Crimestoppers in 2013-14.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office will provide funding for Crimestoppers of £900,000 for 2013-14.

Entry Clearances: Fees and Charges

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the target time is for refunding visa fees to the public where these are owed by her Department;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the amount owed to members of the public by her Department in refundable visa fees;
	(3)  what estimate she has made of the (a) average and (b) longest time taken by her Department to refund fees owed to members of the public in relation to visas in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mark Harper: There is no target time for refunding visa fees, as our policy is only to issue refunds on an exceptional basis. Visa decisions are made at decision making hubs, outside the UK (with the exceptions of the two visa sections that are in the UK, in Sheffield and Croydon). Refunds are only issued:
	where a customer has applied for a visa and paid the fee, but withdraws their application prior to submitting their biometric data—that is, where we have not begun to process their application (e.g.: if the customer changes their mind about travelling to the UK, or where a customer has applied and paid for the wrong visa, or where a customer has paid twice in error)
	if it is apparent that there has been maladministration of the application.
	Refunds are issued by the decision making hub that received the visa application.
	No estimate is made of outstanding refunds.
	The time taken to issue refunds relating to visa applications made outside the UK is not recorded as it not a regular business activity.

Foreign Workers: Sittingbourne

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many companies in Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency are registered to employ foreign nationals.

Mark Harper: The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Foreign Workers: Sittingbourne

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of foreign nationals employed in Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency is unable to provide the number of foreign nationals employed in the Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency because it does not record the employment status of every foreign national in the UK.

Hillsborough Stadium

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) on Hillsborough; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of resources available to the IPCC for that investigation.

Damian Green: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are published on the Cabinet Office website on a quarterly basis.
	The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has committed to ensuring that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) (investigating the tragedy's aftermath) and Jon Stoddart (investigating the Hillsborough deaths) have the resource and powers necessary to investigate the findings of the Hillsborough Independent Panel thoroughly, transparently and exhaustively. The IPCC and Jon Stoddart are working with the Home Office on the level of personnel and resource they require, as their investigations progress.

Hillsborough Stadium

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with the Independent Police Complaints Commission on ensuring a timely conclusion to the Hillsborough investigation; and when she expects the scoping exercise to conclude.

Damian Green: holding answer 25 February 2013
	Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are published on the Cabinet Office website on a quarterly basis.
	The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has committed to ensuring that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) (investigating the tragedy's aftermath) and Jon Stoddart (investigating the Hillsborough deaths) have the resource and powers necessary to investigate the findings of the Hillsborough Independent Panel thoroughly, transparently and in a timely fashion.
	The IPCC is independent, so the exact timescale of the scoping exercise is a matter for them.

Human Trafficking

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in each police authority have specific responsibility for tackling human trafficking; and what their names and rank are.

Damian Green: The allocation of officers' responsibilities is an operational matter for chief constables.

Illegal Immigrants: Foreign Workers

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reports of employers allegedly hiring illegal foreign workers her Department has received in each of the last five years.

Mark Harper: The information requested is not available centrally covering the last five years. The national Allegations Management System (AMS) went live on 30 September 2012 and will enable us to track individual allegations from receipt to outcome and to have a comprehensive overview of the types of immigration and smuggling crimes which members of the public are reporting.

Immigration Controls

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for further leave to remain under tier 1 immigration remain outstanding (a) four weeks after biometrics were taken, (b) three months after biometrics were taken and (c) longer than three months after biometrics were taken.

Mark Harper: The following table show the numbers of Tier 1 postal applications with biometrics enrolled, pending decisions.
	
		
			 Applications work in progress (WIP) Number of cases 
			 0 to 1 month (0 to 4 weeks) 2,409 
			 1 to 3 months 1,733 
			 Over 3 months 2,833 
			 Total 6,975 
			 Notes: 1. All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. Figures relate to main applicants only. 3. Figures relate to Tier 1 postal applications only. 4. Figures relate to Tier 1 cases in work in progress (WIP), pending a decision. 5. Time in WIP based on the average number of calendar months from biometric enrolment or case creation date to 14 February 2013.

Means-tested Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what means-tested (a) cash and (b) non-cash benefits are provided by her Department; what the means-testing rules are for each such benefit; and how much was spent on each means-tested benefit in 2011-12.

James Brokenshire: The Home Department does not provide means-tested cash and non-cash benefits.

Meetings

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she last met the Chief Executive Officer of (a) Serco, (b) Capita and (c) G4S.

James Brokenshire: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are published on the Cabinet Office website on a quarterly basis.

Metropolitan Police

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she last visited New Scotland Yard.

James Brokenshire: Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with ministerial colleagues and others as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

National Wildlife Crime Unit

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has had discussions with the Scottish Government on the future of the National Wildlife Crime Unit after March 2013.

George Freeman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent meetings she has had with representatives of the National Wildlife Crime Unit; and if she will make a statement.

Jeremy Browne: Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with ministerial colleagues and others as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Offenders: Deportation

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national offenders have left prison and currently reside within the UK awaiting deportation.

Mark Harper: In December 2012, 3,350 foreign national offenders were in the community, while being considered for deportation from the UK. In addition a further 752 were classified as absconders. These average figures are based on internal management information and are subject to change.
	The majority of foreign national offenders living in the community prior to deportation are released by an Immigration Judge on bail. The UK Border Agency must also release those where we have been unable to maintain detention because deportation is not possible within a reasonable period of time. These individuals are assessed according to level of risk wherever possible those released are placed on restrictions while the Agency continues to pursue deportation.

Overtime

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was to the public purse of overtime incurred by staff at the UK Border Agency in 2012.

Mark Harper: The cost of overtime in the UK Border Agency in calendar year 2012 was £7.6 million.
	The figure for 2012 is higher than in previous years. This is due to increased levels of overtime required as a result of providing contingency support to Border Force leading up to the Queen's jubilee and leading up to, during and after the Olympic Games.
	The information provided is for staff at Grade 6 and below in the UK Border Agency. Senior civil servants are not entitled to overtime payments.

Passports

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports are issued annually by (a) each regional passport office and (b) age range of the applicant; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The information is provided as follows:
	(a) The number of passports issued by each regional passport office for the calendar year 2012 is shown in the following table. Passport applications are distributed across regional offices based on capacity and resources in each office.
	
		
			 Office 2012 
			 Belfast 426,752 
			 Durham 2,037,716 
			 Glasgow 170,423 
			 Liverpool 1,269,945 
			 London 206,391 
			 Newport 62,709 
			 Peterborough 1,130,313 
			 Total 5,304,249 
		
	
	(b) The number of passports issued in the UK by age range for the calendar year 2012 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Applicant age band 2012 
			 0 to 5 700,828 
			 6 to 10 435,946 
			 11 to 15 474,775 
			 16 to 20 556,256 
			 21 to 25 201,353 
			 26 to 30 346,358 
			 31 to 35 263,514 
			 36 to 40 313,074 
			 41 to 45 322,749 
			 46 to 50 369,265 
			 51 to 55 299,640 
			 56 to 60 265,687 
			 61 to 65 274,368 
			 66 to 70 201,397 
			 71 to 75 137,020 
			 76 to 80 83,164 
			 81 to 90 55,734 
			 91 + 3,121 
			 Total 5,304,249

Pay

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many senior members of staff at the (a) UK Border Force, (b) UK Border Agency and (c) Identity and Passport Service she expects will receive bonuses in 2012.

Mark Harper: As was the policy under the previous Government, the Home Office follows Cabinet Office guidelines to assess the performance of its senior members of staff. This assessment takes place after the performance year, which runs from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013, ends; we expect the assessment therefore for the 2012-13 performance year to take place in late spring.

Police ICT Company

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what date she expects the proposed police IT company to be fully operational.

Damian Green: The decision to make the company fully operational is a commercial decision that can only be made by the independent Police ICT Company Board once the long term ownership group is in place and Board has approved the Company business plan. As an interim measure the Police ICT Company Directorate within the Home Office continues to deliver essential frontline services including the police national database.

Police: Complaints

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the Independent Police Complaints Commission has found against the police since the formation of that body.

Damian Green: The Home Office does not hold this information. The Independent Police Complaints Commission will write to my hon. Friend about this question in due course.

Sick Leave

Marcus Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many days of paid sickness leave per individual member of staff are authorised in her Department on an annual basis;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to reduce sickness absence in her Department.

James Brokenshire: Between 1 February 2012 to 31 January 2013, the number of paid days sickness per individual member of staff is 6.89.
	The Home Office sickness policy was revised in March 2012. Line managers record sickness absences in the Adelphi management information system and receive monthly information on absence levels within their business areas.
	Managers use this to monitor sickness data, to proactively manage absence and take action to support good health, safety and wellbeing for staff.

Training

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on training and education for civil servants in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The total amounts recorded as having been spent on training and education provided to the Home Office by external suppliers in the years in question was:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2010-11 13,690,081 
			 2011-12 14,946,948 
		
	
	These figures also include the departmental payment of £630,000 in 2010-11 and in 2011-12 to Civil Service Learning to cover their service costs.

UK Border Force

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what bonus arrangements have been made in respect of the new Director General of UK Border Force.

Mark Harper: The new Director General of UK Border Force will be a member of the Department's senior civil service (SCS). As such, he may be eligible for a non-consolidated annual bonus payment, subject to successful performance, in line with the Department's SCS pay arrangements. These are set annually within the guidelines laid down by Cabinet Office.

TRANSPORT

Means-tested Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what means-tested (a) cash and (b) non-cash benefits are provided by his Department; what the means-testing rules are for each such benefit; and how much was spent on each means-tested benefit in 2011-12.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport does not apply means-testing in assessing an applicant's eligibility for a particular benefit, such as a disabled person's concessionary bus travel pass, or exemption from Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). The Department provides guidance which takes account of the applicant's receipt of other relevant state benefits. For example, a disabled person would be eligible for a bus pass and exempt from VED if in receipt of certain mobility allowances, such as the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or War Pensioners Mobility Supplement (WPMS), provided through the Department for Work and Pensions.

Pedestrian Crossings: Schools

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many school crossing patrol officers were employed by local authorities in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) 2012;
	(2)  how many school crossing patrol officers were funded by each local authority in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) 2012;
	(3)  what funding was given to each local authority for school crossing patrol officers in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) 2012.

Stephen Hammond: The figures requested on the numbers of school crossing patrol officers and their funding are not kept centrally but individually by each borough.

Public Expenditure

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with (a) HM Treasury and (b) other departments on the single funding pot model of regional spending allocation.

Norman Baker: Since Lord Heseltine published his report 'No Stone Unturned' in October 2012, there have been a number of cross-Departmental discussions of his recommendations, including the single pot model.
	As announced at the Autumn Statement, the Government will publish a full response in the Spring.

Railways: Fares

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to simplify fares across the rail network.

Norman Baker: Passengers benefit from being able to choose from a range of fares, which enable them to choose a cheaper or a more flexible fare according to the circumstances of their journey.
	However, we recognise that, the options presented can sometimes appear complex to passengers. The Rail Fares and Ticketing Review is considering a range of issues, including how to help passengers better understand the options available and be confident that they are getting the best deal for their journey.

Railways: Standards

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consideration he has given to requiring train operating companies to compensate passengers for delays of 15 minutes or more.

Norman Baker: Under the Delay/Repay compensation system, all passengers are entitled to receive compensation for delays of more than 30 minutes whatever the cause. Train Operating Companies are also required to consider compensating season ticket holders over and above this in the event of sustained poor peak performance.
	There are no plans to reduce the 30 minute threshold of delay to 15 minutes.

Roads: Safety

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to promote an awareness of road safety amongst school children;
	(2)  how much funding his Department allocated to promote awareness of road safety for school children in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011 and (d) 2012.

Stephen Hammond: Overall, road deaths are at a record low and child casualties (aged 0-15) have fallen considerably (child fatalities in 2011 were 53% below the 2005-09 average; killed/seriously injured down 21%). Recent published figures also show that child KSIs fell by 1% between the year ending September 2011 and 2012. However, we know that one death is one too many, which is why we are focusing our THINK! campaigns where they will have the greatest impact.
	We are working closely with local authorities and other partners who engage with children directly to ensure our road safety messages are reaching children and teenagers in schools as well as providing educational resources to allow these important messages to be incorporated into the curriculum. We are enhancing the resources provided to schools—both at primary and secondary level—to make them easier to use in the classroom and will be engaging with teachers to encourage greater use of road safety examples in core curriculum subjects such as maths, science and citizenship. We also intend to make THINK! resources available to other groups who engage with children and young people.
	Expenditure on the THINK! road safety campaign and the sums allocated to promoting child/teen road safety is shown below by fiscal year spend.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Fiscal year THINK! campaign Child/teen expenditure 
			 2009-10 18,602,057 3,783,253 
			 2010-11 2,342,563 1,285,509 
			 2011-12 3,995,586 705,600 
			 2012-13 (1)3,570.000 (1)78,000 
			 (1) Provisional out-turn 
		
	
	The current major areas of spend for the THINK! campaign are motorcycling safety, where accident rates are highest and drink driving, where people continue to flout the law.
	Our THINK! campaigns are only one part of our road safety work. We are also investing in infrastructure to make our roads safer and more efficient; taking steps to make it easier for the police to enforce against drivers who break the law; and we have streamlined the process for councils to implement 20 mph zones and limits on their roads.

Roads: Torbay

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what recent representations he has received from Torbay Council on funding for road maintenance;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to enable local authorities to (a) share best practice on efficient road maintenance and (b) secure funds for long-term investment in local road networks;
	(3)  how much funding his Department provided to Torbay Council for road maintenance in each of the last five years; and how much such funding will be provided in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport has received no recent representations from Torbay Council in respect of funding for road maintenance.
	A breakdown of the capital funding allocated to Torbay Council for highways maintenance over the last five years, as well as what we expect to fund in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 is set out in the table below:
	
		
			 Financial Year Amount (£ million) 
			 2008-09 Highways Maintenance Block Funding 1.019 
			 2009-10 Highways Maintenance Block Funding 1.035 
			 2010-11 Highways Maintenance Block Funding 1.120 
			 May 2010 Additional funding provided for pothole damage 0.129 
			 March 2011 Additional funding provided for pothole damage 0.363 
			 2011-12 Highways Maintenance Block Funding 1.346 
			 2012-13 Highways Maintenance Block Funding 1.288 
			 2013-14 Highways Maintenance Block Funding 1.161 
			 2013-14-Additional Funding announced in December 2012 0.211 
			 2014-15 Highways Maintenance Block Funding 1.094 
			 2014-15 Additional funding announced in December 2012 0.113 
		
	
	Local authorities are also able to use revenue funding, allocated by the Department of Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant for maintaining their local highways.
	Neither revenue or capital highways maintenance block funding is ring-fenced and it is for local highway authorities to decide upon their spending priorities across the whole range of services that they provide.
	The Government believes there is scope to maximise returns from highways investment and deliver efficient and effective services. The Department for Transport is supporting the sector by providing £6 million for the Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme. Further information including the work that the Programme is delivering is available at the following weblink:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/hmep/

Transport: Merseyside

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been (a) committed and (b) spent by his Department on transport-related expenditure in the Merseyside region in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013 to date.

Norman Baker: The most recent data available for regional expenditure is the National Statistics Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses for 2011-12. This is identifiable expenditure on services, including transport, by function, country and region.
	In 2009-10, spend on the transport element of economic affairs for the North West was £2,432 million, in 2010-11 it was £2,169 million and £1,967 million in 2011-12. Spend is not broken down below regional level.
	The Department for Transport is not the only public body responsible for transport and a large proportion of expenditure is covered by local government bodies.
	Committed spend is not analysed at a regional level.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Biofuels

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Thirsk and Melton of 12 July 2012, Official Report, column 439, on biomass based generation, what the evidential basis is for the statement that there is a significant immediate carbon gain when coal-fired generation is moved to biomass generation.

John Hayes: The evidential basis can be found in the UK Bioenergy Strategy and supporting Bioenergy Strategy Analytical Annex, published in April 2012. This can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-bioenergy-strategy

Carbon Emissions

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 451W, on carbon emissions: industries, when the Government will announce the details of its relief package for energy intensive industries.

Gregory Barker: The Government's consultation on proposals for the eligibility and design of the compensation package closed in December. It provided an opportunity for all those interested in the package to comment on the proposals.
	Following detailed consideration of the responses, the Government plans to announce the final compensation scheme design later this year, subject to state aid approval from the European Commission.

Energy Supply

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with consumer groups on the CIBSE Annual Lecture 2012, Will GB's lights stay on and will the gas keep flowing: a look at the next decade?

John Hayes: My officials have frequent discussions with a number of consumer groups on the issues raised in this lecture.

Energy Supply

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with Ofgem on the CIBSE Annual Lecture 2012, Will GB's lights stay on and will the gas keep flowing: a look at the next decade?

John Hayes: I have had no particular discussions with Ofgem on this lecture.
	I discuss gas and electricity issues with Ofgem regularly. In November 2012 they produced a Gas Security of Supply Report at my request, which the lecture reflects . In the same month we published our response to their October 2012 Electricity Capacity Assessment:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-security-of-supply-report-2012

Energy: Billing

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer by the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Inverclyde on 13 February 2013, Official Report, column 857, which clause of the Energy Bill is intended to force companies to give people the lowest energy tariff.

Gregory Barker: Clauses 121 to 124 of the Energy Bill provide the Secretary of State with the powers for ensuring that consumers are on the cheapest tariff that meets their preferences.

Energy: Imports

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the UK's likely dependence on foreign imports of energy in (a) 2013, (b) 2015 and (c) 2018.

John Hayes: The Department does not routinely assess import dependence for all energy sources. In the case of oil and gas, we do publish projections of both UK demand and UK production, from which implied import dependence ratios can be derived. The central projections of both published in October 2012 now at:
	https://www.gov.uk/oil-and-gas-uk-field-data
	imply the following import dependence ratios:
	
		
			 Percentage 
			  Oil Gas Oil and Gas 
			 (a) 2013 35 46 40 
			 (b) 2015 35 45 40 
			 (c) 2018 38 49 43

Means-tested Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what means-tested (a) cash and (b) non-cash benefits are provided by his Department; what the means-testing rules are for each such benefit; and how much was spent on each means-tested benefit in 2011-12.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not provide means-tested cash or non-cash benefits.
	In 2011-12, a range of policies operated that provided assistance to households or individuals in receipt of certain means-tested benefits. In terms of energy efficiency, the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and the Warm Front scheme were the main Government policies in operation (in Great Britain and England respectively) to help vulnerable customers keep their homes warmer and reduce their energy bills.
	Under the Priority Group and Super Priority Group CERT sub-targets, obligated energy suppliers were required to meet a proportion of their CERT obligation by promoting energy efficiency measures to vulnerable customers meeting specified criteria. Commonly these measures were offered at a subsidised rate or for free. The energy companies were not required to provide information on the costs of delivery under CERT and this information has never been made publicly available. The eligibility criteria are set out in the relevant legislation: The Electricity and Gas (Carbon Emissions Reduction) Order 2008 and The Electricity and Gas (Carbon Emissions Reduction) (Amendment) Order 2010.
	The Warm Front scheme provided support to qualifying households in England to cover the cost of heating and insulation measures. The total amount spent under Warm Front in 2011-12 was £108.6 million. The eligibility rules in operation at the time are set out in The Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2011.
	In terms of direct support to reduce bills, the Warm Home Discount offered additional assistance, including by way of a rebate off electricity bills worth £120. In 2011-12 the scheme supported 2 million households, including more than 700,000 of the poorest pensioners. Total spending by energy suppliers under the scheme was £237.5 million in 2011-12. The annual report published by Ofgem provides further information, including on eligibility criteria for the different elements of the scheme:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/Environment/WHDS/Documents1/WHD_AR_08_Oct_2012.pdf
	The legal basis for the scheme is provided by The Warm Home Discount Regulations 2011.

Nuclear Power Stations

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to provide early certainty via the Final Investment Decision Enabling Process for shovel ready projects other than that at Hinkley Point C.

John Hayes: The Government remains committed to working actively with relevant parties (including developers of renewables, CCS and nuclear projects) to enable investment decisions to progress to timetable wherever possible ahead of the full implementation of Electricity Market Reform.
	The Final Investment Decision (FID) Enabling process was established to deliver on this commitment. Projects which meet the characteristics set out in the EMR Technical Update (published in December 2011) have already been invited to contact the Department to discuss what form of comfort might be offered to them and the FID Enabling process remains open to developers. Following discussions with a number of interested project sponsors, my Department intends to publish in March new details of how the FID Enabling process will work for renewables projects.

Nuclear Power: Accidents

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the level of the nuclear industry's liability is in the event of a nuclear accident; what criteria are used in setting the level of such liability; at what intervals reviews are conducted of the level of nuclear industry liability in respect of a nuclear accident; and when the next such review will take place.

John Hayes: The UK is a Contracting Party to the Paris Convention on nuclear third party liability in the field of nuclear energy of 29 July 1960 (“the Paris Convention”). This convention sets out the framework for dealing with compensation following a nuclear incident including the liability levels to impose on nuclear operators. The UK implements the Paris Convention through the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (as amended) (“the 1965 Act”).
	At present operator liability in the UK is set at £140 million per incident for standard sites and £10 million per incident for certain lower risk sites. Significantly higher liability levels have been agreed by the contracting parties in the 2004 Protocol to the Paris Convention and DECC is working on amendments to the 1965 Act to implement these changes. Government carried out a consultation on this and published its response last year:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/compensating-victims-of-nuclear-accidents
	In the UK, when the 2004 Protocol comes into force and subject to parliamentary approval, nuclear operators’ liability will rise to €1200 million per incident for standard sites (introduced at €700 million and rising to €1200 million over five years). The limits for lower risk sites and transport, will be €70 million and €80 million respectively.
	The framework for setting nuclear operators' liability levels laid down in the Paris Convention is decided by the contracting parties to the convention. The Paris Convention has been amended by additional Protocols adopted in 1964, 1982 and 2004. Article 22(d) of the Paris Convention sets out when a review can take place—the actual timing and scope of any review will be determined by the Contracting Parties.

TREASURY

Digital Economy Act 2010

Therese Coffey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of revenue lost to the Exchequer as a result of the delay in the implementation of the Digital Economy Act 2010.

Danny Alexander: The provisions in the Digital Economy Act are designed to ensure that charges for providing the service simply recover the full cost of those services. There has therefore been no loss of revenue to the Exchequer.

Economic Situation: Birmingham

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the trends in economic activity in Birmingham since 2010.

Sajid Javid: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes annual estimates for regional and sub-regional gross value added (GVA); on 12 December 2012 they published provisional estimates for 2011. Table 1 shows local GVA in Birmingham and annual growth rates. All estimates are presented in current prices; volume measures that take account of price changes are not available at this level of geography.
	The ONS also produce quarterly estimates of employment and unemployment in Birmingham; on 23 January 2013 they published estimates for the 12-month period October 2011 to September 2012. Table 2 compares these estimates of employment and unemployment with those for the 12-month period October 2010 to September 2011.

EU Budget

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the percentage increase is in the overall level of administration expenditure agreed at the European Council on 8 February 2013 for the Multi-Annual Financial Framework of 2014 to 2020 compared to the preceding Multi-Annual Financial Framework.

Greg Clark: Compared to the current period for 2007-13, the level of spending set out in Council conclusions for administration represents a 9% increase, from €56.5 billion in 2007-13 to €61.6 billion in 2014-20.
	The level of administrative spending agreed in heading five is disappointing. The Government believes that reform of pay, benefits and other administrative spending is possible and necessary and will press for reductions in annual budgets under the new Multi-Annual Funding Framework.
	This is part of an overall deal in which the UK delivered a real-terms cut in multi-year EU Budget frameworks for the first time in history. In total, the deal agreed (€908 billion payments) was €80 billion lower than the original Commission proposal; €35 billion lower than the deal agreed by the last Government which is still in operation today; and €60 billion lower than the emergency arrangements that would have come into place if there were no seven-year deal.

Excise Duties: Fuels

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2013, Official Report, column 668W, on excise duties: fuels, what steps his Department is taking to make fuel more affordable for people on low incomes;
	(2)  what recent discussions his Department has had with fuel companies regarding making fuel more affordable for people on low incomes.

Sajid Javid: As a result of the repeated action by the Government, average pump prices will remain at least 10p per litre lower than if we had stuck with the previous Government's plans for the remainder of this Parliament.
	Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with a wide variety of organisations as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
	The Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations, available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm

Means-Tested Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what means-tested (a) cash and (b) non-cash benefits are provided by his Department; what the means- testing rules are for each such benefit; and how much was spent on each means-tested benefit in 2011-12.

Sajid Javid: HMRC are responsible for the administration of tax credits. Information about the rules on tax credits can be found on the HMRC website at
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/wtc2.pdf
	Information about payments can be found on the website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/receipts/receipts-stats.xls
	This indicates that cash expenditure on tax credits was around £30 billion in 2011-12. Statistics on total tax credit entitlement for 2011-12 will be published in May 2013.

Oil: Prices

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the economic effects of global oil prices.

Sajid Javid: Over recent months the Chancellor has discussed a wide range of issues relevant to the global economy with his international counterparts, including energy prices, in international forums. HM Treasury officials also frequently discuss these issues with their international counterparts. G20 Finance Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to more transparent and better functioning energy markets at their meeting on 15-16 February.

Revenue and Customs

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff were employed in each HM Revenue and Customs office in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the number of staff employed in each such office in each of the next three years.

Sajid Javid: The number of staff, by headcount, employed in HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in each of the last five years is shown in the following table. For operational reasons and to make the information easier to use, office locations have been grouped by town.
	HMRC is not able to provide a detailed view of the estimated staff needed in each HMRC office in each of the next three years. The Department is currently reviewing its staffing needs for the next three years but does not intend to publish the number of staff required by each location. This is because the plans will be subject to further change, for example HMRC may decide to deploy resources flexibly to deal with work which is not location specific. HMRC has published figures for staffing projections by line of business for the spending review period.
	
		
			 Town 1 April 2009 31 March 2010 31 March 2011 31 March 2012 31 January 2013 
			 Aberdeen 183 163 154 151 143 
			 Aberystwyth 24 20 4 3 3 
		
	
	
		
			 Ace ring ton 99 75 9 8 6 
			 Alfreton 39 12 4 4 2 
			 Alnwick 17 7 1 1 1 
			 Altrincham 47 12 3 3 3 
			 Andover 13 12 6 6 5 
			 Antrim 2 2 2 1 1 
			 Ashford 42 36 4 4 4 
			 Ashton-under-Lyne 43 2 2 1 1 
			 Avonmouth 70 42 41 40 46 
			 Aylesbury 41 31 5 5 — 
			 Ayr 58 24 8 8 3 
			 Ballymena 62 52 10 9 3 
			 Banbridge 12 6 1 — — 
			 Banbury 35 30 6 5 7 
			 Bangor 75 70 30 7 4 
			 Barnsley 183 175 179 170 158 
			 Barnstaple 91 94 95 91 88 
			 Barrow in Furness 33 21 6 6 4 
			 Basildon 32 — — — — 
			 Basingstoke 4 5 4 3 3 
			 Bath 59 16 5 4 3 
			 Bathgate 1,318 1,136 1,182 1,088 1,015 
			 Bedford 132 100 91 87 74 
			 Belfast 1,559 1,419 1,400 1,368 1,325 
			 Bideford 23 5 1 1 1 
			 Biggin Hill 1 — — — — 
			 Birkenhead 97 29 11 8 5 
			 Birmingham 1,279 1,254 1,247 1,223 1,225 
			 Bishop Auckland 32 16 4 3 3 
			 Bishops Stortford 80 80 85 81 63 
			 Blackburn 114 105 134 126 117 
			 Blackpool 345 348 345 329 303 
			 Bognor Regis 5 5 6 5 5 
			 Bolton 169 147 133 130 125 
			 Bootle 2,073 2,287 2,225 2,519 2,946 
			 Boston 40 23 4 4 4 
			 Bournemouth 407 381 360 333 313 
			 Bradford 1,175 1,205 1,167 1,392 1,368 
			 Brecon 26 14 1 1 1 
			 Bridgend 38 23 4 3 4 
			 Bridgwater 44 19 3 3 2 
			 Bridlington 35 22 4 3 3 
			 Brierley Hill 797 584 590 527 449 
			 Brighton 183 214 230 206 204 
			 Bristol 907 900 893 860 823 
			 Bromley 44 11 9 8 8 
			 Buckie 14 13 2 2 2 
			 Burnley 43 46 11 11 10 
			 Burnt Oak — 5 4 4 — 
			 Burton upon Trent 62 21 5 5 5 
			 Bury 23 5 5 5 4 
		
	
	
		
			 Bury St Edmunds 44 25 9 6 4 
			 Cambridge 153 164 159 168 163 
			 Cannock 39 8 4 4 4 
			 Canterbury 129 107 118 125 131 
			 Cardiff 3,007 2,783 2,781 2,989 2,880 
			 Carlisle 77 96 101 99 93 
			 Carmarthen 104 99 96 96 90 
			 Castle Donington 29 2 — — — 
			 Chadwell Heath — — — 20 — 
			 Chatham 177 141 131 120 111 
			 Cheadle 111 — — — — 
			 Chelmsford 99 83 94 95 87 
			 Cheltenham 65 19 6 5 4 
			 Chester 87 39 4 4 4 
			 Chesterfield 105 108 110 105 102 
			 Chichester 45 31 12 6 4 
			 Chippenham 24 13 1 1 1 
			 Chorley 66 38 6 3 3 
			 Clacton on Sea 31 16 4 4 — 
			 Coatbridge 22 4 4 4 4 
			 Colchester 147 151 145 138 113 
			 Coleraine 68 63 64 65 71 
			 Colwyn Bay 42 42 68 89 90 
			 Coventry 527 415 403 400 384 
			 Craigavon 83 60 59 72 70 
			 Crawley 42 37 53 61 63 
			 Crewe 74 36 5 5 6 
			 Croydon 442 655 672 666 671 
			 Cullompton 41 — — — — 
			 Cumbernauld 1,531 1,489 1,411 1,323 1,252 
			 Darlington 48 — — — 3 
			 Dartford — 1 1 — — 
			 Derby 330 253 247 233 216 
			 Dereham — — — 3 3 
			 Dewsbury 32 4 3 3 3 
			 Doncaster 114 81 13 7 6 
			 Dorchester 17 9 3 2 2 
			 Dover 1190 189 191 176 164 
			 Droitwich 4 — — — — 
			 Dumbarton 7 4 3 3 3 
			 Dumfries 37 19 2 2 2 
			 Dundee 958 843 924 807 760 
			 Dunfermline 26 14 3 3 4 
			 Dunoon 9 6 4 3 3 
			 Durham 59 8 6 4 4 
			 Ealing Broadway — 227 227 214 213 
			 East Dereham 28 25 6 1 — 
			 East Kilbride 2,788 2,610 2,522 2,775 2,707 
			 Eastbourne 7 8 8 9 7 
			 Edgeware — — — — 3 
			 Edinburgh 1,645 1,424 1,391 1,481 1,410 
			 Elgin 1 1 — — — 
			 Enniskillen 73 70 68 67 66 
			 Erith 32 34 33 33 28 
		
	
	
		
			 Evesham 38 30 5 5 5 
			 Exeter 279 263 263 246 231 
			 Falkirk 11 7 4 2 2 
			 Falmouth 17 — — — — 
			 Farnham 43 31 4 3 — 
			 Felixstowe 257 9 9 5 7 
			 Feltham 58 1 — — — 
			 Finchley — 136 123 121 113 
			 Folkestone 3 1 1 1 — 
			 Frame 35 28 4 4 2 
			 Gainsborough 14 11 4 4 2 
			 Galashiels 19 15 5 6 5 
			 Gatwick 279 7 1 — — 
			 Gillingham — — 5 5 5 
			 Glasgow 1,176 1,157 1,226 1,189 1,154 
			 Glenrothes 102 99 96 99 89 
			 Gloucester 145 179 185 179 179 
			 Goole 4 3 3 3 3 
			 Gosforth 168 60 60 54 — 
			 Grangemouth 25 19 1 — — 
			 Grantham 43 19 3 3 3 
			 Gravesend 127 48 48 39 41 
			 Grays 16 15 5 5 — 
			 Great Yarmouth 119 76 10 7 5 
			 Greenock 93 26 7 5 6 
			 Grimsby 237 213 211 196 190 
			 Guildford 5 5 5 5 4 
			 Halifax 137 23 8 6 4 
			 Hamilton 21 4 3 3 2 
			 Hammersmith — — 11 9 12 
			 Harlow 59 29 8 5 4 
			 Harrogate 42 60 54 52 49 
			 Harrow — 179 169 168 165 
			 Harwich 164 81 85 88 85 
			 Hatfield 18 17 5 2 2 
			 Haverfordwest 37 26 4 4 3 
			 Hawick 6 5 2 1 1 
			 Haywards Heath 9 3 4 3 — 
			 Hemel Hempstead 36 26 4 4 4 
			 Hereford 82 61 6 5 5 
			 Hertford 28 9 5 5 5 
			 Hexham 14 12 5 3 2 
			 High Wycombe 12 6 6 6 4 
			 Hitchin 5 5 5 5 4 
			 Holyhead 13 — — — — 
			 Horsham 50 39 2 2 1 
			 Hounslow 758 27 11 9 — 
			 Hove 49 — — — — 
			 Huddersfield 86 22 5 5 4 
			 Hull 365 270 274 274 267 
			 Huntingdon 33 5 5 3 3 
			 Ilford 1 — — — — 
			 Immingham 88 9 6 4 4 
			 Inverness 89 84 85 83 77 
			 Ipswich 589 590 601 583 598 
			 Irvine 27 43 50 47 50 
		
	
	
		
			 Isle of Grain 1 — — — — 
			 Keighley 29 16 5 5 5 
			 Kendal 42 33 4 3 2 
			 Kettering 72 31 3 2 2 
			 Kings Lynn 103 105 102 97 86 
			 Kingston upon Thames 69 8 6 6 6 
			 Kirkcaldy 6 5 4 4 3 
			 Lancaster 37 31 9 9 7 
			 Launceston 39 29 7 4 3 
			 Leamington Spa 8 6 2 — 4 
			 Leeds 981 1,087 1,074 1,037 1,048 
			 Leek 19 8 3 3 3 
			 Leicester 1,118 957 910 905 866 
			 Leigh 51 18 16 5 2 
			 Lerwick 3 1 1 — — 
			 Lewes 53 35 5 5 5 
			 Lincoln 207 224 232 226 208 
			 Lisburn 73 98 97 98 94 
			 Liverpool 3,378 2,773 2,760 2,580 2,048 
			 Livingston 663 609 575 557 469 
			 Llanelli 23 — — 1 1 
			 London 7,752 5,771 5,600 5,477 5,417 
			 Londonderry 159 161 156 153 144 
			 Louth 13 6 3 2 2 
			 Ludlow 19 20 2 2 2 
			 Luton 272 237 236 220 197 
			 Macclesfield 37 11 4 3 3 
			 Maidenhead 31 — — — — 
			 Maidstone 262 228 222 220 221 
			 Manchester 947 957 984 921 902 
			 Mansfield 25 15 7 6 4 
			 Margate 33 24 7 7 2 
			 Melton Mowbray 23 13 2 2 2 
			 Merthyr Tydfil 67 92 91 95 97 
			 Middlesbrough 578 325 304 297 289 
			 Milton Keynes 113 95 97 96 107 
			 Morpeth 23 10 10 7 4 
			 Motherwell 14 4 3 2 2 
			 Newark 26 16 4 4 4 
			 Newbury 23 7 4 3 3 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 7,715 7,254 6,864 7,643 7,412 
			 Newhaven 12 — — — — 
			 Newport 101 54 8 6 6 
			 Newport Isle of Wight 37 36 9 8 8 
			 Newry 166 158 155 143 136 
			 Newton Abbot 76 59 10 8 5 
			 Northampton 302 369 378 369 358 
			 Northwich 19 22 7 6 4 
			 Norwich 305 317 317 301 301 
			 Nottingham 1,874 1,933 1,902 1,857 1,854 
		
	
	
		
			 Nuneaton 22 10 5 5 5 
			 Oban 1 1 — — — 
			 Oldham 81 12 6 6 5 
			 Oswestry 32 22 8 4 4 
			 Oxford 190 181 175 165 153 
			 Paisley 227 144 155 169 160 
			 Pembroke 14 11 11 9 8 
			 Penrith 23 5 2 2 2 
			 Penzance 41 15 3 3 3 
			 Perth 20 10 3 3 2 
			 Peterborough 393 408 390 385 369 
			 Peterhead 10 8 2 2 1 
			 Peterlee 792 667 738 705 647 
			 Plymouth 266 205 202 185 183 
			 Pontefract 34 17 5 3 2 
			 Pontypool 30 23 6 6 5 
			 Pontypridd 43 15 5 4 5 
			 Poole 99 67 68 76 73 
			 Porthmadog 33 29 25 28 26 
			 Portsmouth 1,480 1,342 1,291 1,481 1,340 
			 Preston 2,517 2,433 2,398 2,320 2,364 
			 Prestwick 4 — — — — 
			 Pudsey 12 — — — — 
			 Purfleet 1 1 — — — 
			 Ramsgate — 1 1 1 — 
			 Rayleigh 9 12 12 11 9 
			 Reading 309 340 327 315 299 
			 Redditch 40 19 11 10 4 
			 Redhill 83 74 82 77 74 
			 Redruth 78 109 113 112 114 
			 Retford 30 23 4 5 2 
			 Rhyl 51 35 6 3 3 
			 Ripon 20 12 4 3 4 
			 Rochdale 26 2 2 2 2 
			 Romford 194 181 125 95 102 
			 Rotherham 10 10 10 10 10 
			 Rothesay 7 9 1 — — 
			 Rugby 16 5 3 3 3 
			 Salford 2,940 2,859 2,755 3,040 3,041 
			 Salisbury 25 14 3 3 3 
			 Scarborough 40 31 6 6 5 
			 Scunthorpe 32 17 7 7 11 
			 Sheffield 495 478 487 487 481 
			 Shipley 1,436 1,350 1,307 1,246 1,111 
			 Shoeburyness 7 — — — — 
			 Shoreham 9 — — — — 
			 Shrewsbury 26 17 6 5 3 
			 Skipton 33 25 4 3 3 
			 Slough 112 91 98 95 79 
			 Solihull 135 184 183 194 204 
			 Southampton 659 423 411 394 396 
			 Southend on Sea 1,820 1,647 1,605 1,575 1,491 
			 Southport 65 40 9 8 7 
			 Spalding 19 11 7 7 5 
			 St Albans 32 23 5 3 3 
			 St Annes 29 — — — — 
			 St Austell 446 403 421 373 336 
			 St Helens 127 119 118 116 108 
		
	
	
		
			 St Leonards on Sea 139 126 121 115 108 
			 Stafford 46 21 4 2 2 
			 Staines 323 233 237 249 264 
			 Stansted 44 1 — — — 
			 Stevenage 121 107 99 95 90 
			 Stirling 14 10 6 3 3 
			 Stockport 382 401 362 341 315 
			 Stockton on Tees 339 511 483 552 555 
			 Stoke on Trent 292 313 321 302 297 
			 Stratford — 261 305 299 282 
			 Stratford on Avon 78 23 3 2 3 
			 Stroud 66 50 49 43 37 
			 Sudbury 29 13 3 3 — 
			 Sunderland 908 870 835 820 821 
			 Surbiton 82 124 126 119 121 
			 Sutton 34 6 5 5 4 
			 Swansea 290 295 297 297 283 
			 Swindon 129 117 112 109 101 
			 Taunton 164 191 192 186 180 
			 Telford 764 782 721 639 610 
			 Tilbury 153 20 20 20 20 
			 Tonbridge 36 32 2 2 — 
			 Torquay 45 30 6 5 4 
			 Truro 66 56 49 45 43 
			 Tufnell Park — 4 5 3 3 
			 Tunbridge Wells 56 43 4 4 — 
			 Twickenham 76 54 49 44 37 
			 Ullapool 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Uxbridge 115 129 125 122 122 
			 Wakefield 44 5 1 1 1 
			 Walsall 184 136 110 104 101 
			 Walthamstow — 11 10 11 11 
			 Warrington 139 177 193 199 208 
			 Washington 2,803 2,739 2,632 2,850 2,806 
			 Watford 110 134 152 151 147 
			 Wellingborough 53 6 4 4 3 
			 Wells 17 15 4 4 4 
			 Welshpool 30 25 4 3 3 
			 Wembley 163 135 130 125 115 
			 Weston Super Mare 50 31 9 7 3 
			 Whitehaven 49 4 4 4 4 
			 Wick 24 20 20 13 15 
			 Widnes 72 5 5 5 3 
			 Wigan 117 93 92 90 74 
			 Winchester 24 6 4 3 2 
			 Winchmore Hill  185 173 174 166 
			 Witham 37 16 — — — 
			 Woking 160 141 138 126 119 
			 Wolverhampton 582 622 583 568 572 
			 Woolwich — 183 179 172 168 
			 Worcester 134 134 144 142 138 
			 Workington 345 335 307 281 236 
		
	
	
		
			 Worthing 992 955 853 806 759 
			 Wrexham 490 483 447 428 423 
			 Yeovil 41 31 5 5 4 
			 York 166 146 141 128 94 
			 Others 257 31 41 48 48 
			 Total 88,875 78,057 74,380 74,983 72,462

Tax Avoidance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider introducing new legislative measures to force UK companies to disclose any tax avoidance schemes that could be detrimental to the world's poorest countries and to support those countries in taking corrective action.

David Gauke: The Government will not be able to extend UK disclosure rules to other countries as Parliament has very limited powers to legislate for territories outside of the UK. The key issue is ensuring that developing countries have the assistance required to develop their own rules to protect their tax base and that they can collect the tax that they are owed. The Government works through a variety of channels including DFID, HMRC and others to deliver high-quality capacity building to help them do this.

Tax Avoidance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will use the G8 to secure international agreement on tackling tax avoidance.

David Gauke: The UK is committed to multilateral action through the G20 and OECD to tackle the issue of base erosion and profit shifting. This is an international problem that requires coordinated international action to resolve. While the agenda is still being finalised, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have set out that making progress on this work will be an important priority for the UK presidency of the G8 in 2013.

Tax Avoidance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will use the forthcoming G8 conference to secure international agreement on taking action against companies that practice tax avoidance; and if he will strengthen HM Revenue and Customs' ability to oversee the tax affairs of UK companies by way of disclosure of tax avoidance schemes legislation.

Sajid Javid: The UK is committed to multilateral action through the G20 and OECD to tackle the issue of base erosion and profit shifting. This is an international problem that requires coordinated international action to resolve. While the agenda is still being finalised, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have set out that making progress on this work will be an important priority for the UK presidency of the G8 in 2013.
	Legislation will be included in this year's Finance Bill to expand the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) hallmarks so that HMRC can obtain more accurate information about the users of avoidance schemes.

Tax Avoidance

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing an advanced ruling system for tax avoidance schemes.

David Gauke: The Government keeps its response to avoidance constantly under review. While no detailed assessment of such a system has been made, the Government's view has been that an advance ruling system for tax avoidance schemes would involve significant cost and generate unproductive work for HMRC that would divert resources from its priorities.

Taxation

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2012, Official Report, column 175W, on tax avoidance, whether HM Revenue and Customs plans to change the way in which it measures its compliance activities to distinguish between evasion, avoidance and tax planning.

Sajid Javid: HMRC's key measure of compliance performance is designed to track progress against its target to deliver almost £9 billion additional compliance revenue per year by 2014-15. This target includes revenues from tackling all types of non-compliance.
	It is not always possible to determine precisely what type of behaviour has caused a particular tax risk. In some cases, for instance, arrangements are only shown to constitute avoidance at a late stage of an inquiry as the facts emerge. Similarly, it is not always possible to distinguish between error and deliberate mis-statement of the facts. For this reason, HMRC's compliance measures do not currently separately identify revenue raised from tackling avoidance and evasion.
	However, HMRC always keep their performance measures framework under review, and where cost-effective improvements are identified that will allow a deeper understanding of compliance performance, these will be made.

UK Membership of EU

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the UK of withdrawal from the EU; when the last such estimate was made; and what plans he to revise such an estimate.

Greg Clark: The Department has not made any plans or assessments for the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

UK Membership of EU

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the economic benefits of UK membership of the European Union; and what comparative assessment he has made of such economic benefits and the financial contributions made to the EU.

Greg Clark: A formal cost-benefit analysis would be difficult to carry out meaningfully as some of the most important benefits cannot be quantified: for example, our leading role in EU foreign policy; or how enlargement has helped spread peace and freedom across Europe.
	Evidence submitted to the Balance of Competences review should provide some evidence of costs and benefits of specific areas of EU activity.

Valuation Office Agency

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  when data on the performance of the Valuation Office Agency will next be published;
	(2)  when the next review of the performance of the Valuation Office Agency will take place.

David Gauke: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) publishes its Business plan each financial year setting out its main areas of work and including a set of Input and Impact Indicators relating to performance. The 2012-15 Plan is available on the internet via the VOA's corporate website under Corporate Publications and can also be viewed at the House of Commons’ Library.
	The 2013-15 Plan will be published this summer following the publication of the Business plans of the major Government Departments on the Number 10 website.
	The VOA also publishes its Annual Report and Accounts including an Operating and Performance Commentary. The Annual Report and Accounts for the last three financial years are also available on the Agency's website and are placed in the Library of the House of Commons.
	This year's accounts will be published in the summer.
	I review the Business Plan and Annual Report prior to publication and may I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 10 January 2012, Official Report, column 430W, which confirms that I am updated on operating and performance issues by Agency's senior officials throughout the year.

Valuation Office Agency

Dominic Raab: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a (a) patio, (b) greenhouse, (c) conservatory or (d) permanent treehouse within the curtilage of a domestic dwelling would be taken into account by the Valuation Office Agency if a property (i) was revalued for council tax purposes or (ii) came under a high-value property levy.

Sajid Javid: Potentially, yes. If a property is revalued for council tax, a feature, positive or negative, that affects the value of that property would be reflected in the new council tax banding. Individual items would be considered as part of the open market value of the whole property.
	What is, or is not, reflected in a property tax is determined by the valuation assumptions set out in the primary legislation. In the case of council tax this is determined by the Local Government Finance Act 1992.
	The Government has ruled out a council tax revaluation in this Parliament.

Welfare Tax Credits

Gordon Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what methods applications for tax credits can be made other than online .

Sajid Javid: To claim tax credits customers have to fill in a paper claim form. They cannot download a claim form, or make their claims online. The only exception is following a household breakdown where HMRC invite telephone claims in certain circumstances.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Alcoholic Drinks

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the level of alcohol-related absenteeism in her Department; whether her Department has an (a) internal alcohol policy and (b) occupational health strategy; and if she will publish such documents.

Alan Duncan: DFID monitors its levels of sickness absence, including absence recorded for alcohol-related reasons. During the 2012 calendar year there was no absence recorded for alcohol-related reasons.
	The Department's policy for dealing with ‘Drugs and Alcohol’ issues and our ‘Maximising Attendance’ policy which covers sickness absence and the use of occupational health will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Developing Countries: Taxation

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking following recommendation 8 of the International Development Select Committee report, Tax in Developing Countries: increasing resources for development, HC 708, on tax, which states that HM Revenue and Customs should meet with the CBI and civil society organisations to explore how to bolster capacity building for transfer pricing in developing countries.

Lynne Featherstone: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has recently met with both the CBI and civil society organisations to discuss transfer pricing. Further work is ongoing.
	The UK is already working to assist developing countries on transfer pricing. For example DFID has provided support on transfer pricing and related compliance functions as part of a Large Taxpayer Unit project in Bangladesh. In addition, DFID provides funding to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Tax and Development Task Force, which is providing assistance on Transfer Pricing in a number of countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Vietnam.
	The UK will use the G8 presidency to drive a serious debate on tax evasion and tax avoidance and ensure that everyone pays their fair share.

SCOTLAND

Government Procurement Card

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the answer of 14 February 2013, Official Report, column 818W, on the Government Procurement Card, how many people attended the dinner; and if he will list their names and job titles.

Michael Moore: As part of my ongoing engagement with Scottish business, I hosted a dinner for representatives of Scotland's green energy sector at Malmaison, Glasgow on 29 May 2012. Including a Scotland Office official and myself, 10 individuals attended the dinner. Those who attended were representatives of the following companies/organisations:
	Repsol UK
	RES Offshore
	Scottish Power
	EDPR UK
	Pelamis
	Coriolis Energy
	Scottish Renewables
	SSE Renewables.

Meetings

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when a list of meetings held by Ministers in his Department with external organisations will be next published.

David Mundell: Lists of Scotland Office Ministers' meetings with external organisations up to and including September 2012 can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications
	Further lists of Ministers' meetings will be published in due course in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance.

Travel

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on taxi or car services for (a) Ministers and (b) officials in each financial year since 2010-11.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office spend on taxi or car services for ministers and officials is listed in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year Ministers (£) Officials (£) 
			 2010-11 99,340 11,720 
			 2011-12 37,508 11,549 
			 2012-13 (April 2012 to December 2012) 40,465 8,303

CABINET OFFICE

Alcoholic Drinks

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the level of alcohol-related absenteeism in his Department; whether his Department has an (a) internal alcohol policy and (b) occupational health strategy; and if he will publish such documents.

Francis Maude: My department does not record alcohol-related absenteeism separately.
	The Cabinet Office's Alcohol Misuse policy is available on its intranet site, alongside Welfare and Support guidance. I am happy to share the documents with my hon. Friend.

Average Earnings

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average (a) male and (b) female earnings were in today's prices for each income decile in each of the last 30 years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average (a) male and (b) female earnings were in today's prices for each income decile in each of the last 30 years. (145021)
	Average levels of earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for all employees on adult rates of pay whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. The ASHE, carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom.
	I following tables showing the gross weekly earnings for full-time male and full-time female employee jobs in Great Britain for 1983 to 1996 and the United Kingdom for 1997 to 2012 (UK figures are not available prior to 1997). Figures are provided for the upper and lower earnings deciles, the upper and lower quartiles and the median (figures for other earnings deciles are not available prior to 1997). April 2012 is the latest date for which figures are available. Figures for these periods have been revalued at April 2012 prices using the All Items Retail Prices Index. Changes in methodology and classification in the years 2004, 2006 and 2011 mean that two figures are provided for each of these years in order to ensure continuity of the series.
	
		
			 Gross weekly earnings for key earnings percentiles (£)—for (a) male and (b) female employee jobs(1): Figures shown are at April 2012 prices (cash terms)(2 )for Great Britain from 1983 to 1996 and for the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2012 
			 GB 
			 £ per week (2012 prices) 
			  Full-time male Full-time female 
			 Year (April) 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% 
			 1983 277.1 340.7 432.4 561.1 733.7 188.7 226.4 284.3 369.1 478.2 
			 1984 270.8 339.2 439.3 573.4 753.4 193.4 231.4 292.2 380,5 486.1 
			 1985 268.9 340.0 442.1 579.0 758.1 193.7 231.8 294.8 385.8 484.9 
			 1986 276.6 352.1 459.6 605.1 796.5 199.4 240.8 306.4 406.7 520.9 
			 1987 280.9 357.6 472.6 626.0 832.6 203.2 247.3 316.6 422.8 543.8 
			 1988 291.3 372.9 493.9 661.7 880.6 211.3 256.9 333.0 455.0 591.4 
			 1989 292.4 375.3 499.6 669.6 898.9 214.3 261.8 339.7 468.7 612.7 
			 1990 291.7 374.9 500.5 673.6 906.2 215.0 264.0 344.1 474.3 614.7 
		
	
	
		
			 1991 292.8 377.0 505.6 686.0 925.2 220.1 274.4 356.6 494.8 643.7 
			 1992 297.4 383.1 517.0 702.2 950.6 225.6 282.0 369.2 517.0 676.3 
			 1993 301.3 389.8 525.4 719.7 978.3 231.1 290.1 382.2 533.1 693.9 
			 1994 302.5 388.6 526.0 718.6 978.2 233.9 293.6 385.8 538.3 702.6 
			 1995 296.2 385.9 526.0 720.5 977.8 229.6 292.1 386.0 541.1 701.0 
			 1996 300.3 389.7 532.2 732.6 1,006.1 233.1 296.8 394.3 551.9 714.8 
		
	
	
		
			 UK 
			  Full-time male Full-time female 
			 Year (April) 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% 
			 1997 306.6 401.5 553.7 763.0 1.042.3 236.1 303.6 411.5 583.2 745.8 
			 1998 303.6 401.3 555.8 767.8 1,052.8 238.2 304.4 412.4 582.4 750.9 
			 1999 310.5 408.7 563.5 780.2 1.074.1 246.9 313.5 423.5 599.6 777.4 
			 2000 313.6 410.4 567.0 783.8 1,083.6 248.5 316.1 425.0 602.5 783.2 
			 2001 321.5 419.7 582.4 806.7 1.139.4 256.5 324.0 440.3 629.6 820.2 
			 2002 329.9 428.1 593.6 828.0 1,183.5 265.1 333.7 456.4 654.2 860.8 
			 2003 330.0 428.7 595.0 833.5 1,180.2 269.4 336.7 459.0 656.0 864.1 
			 2004(3) 332.3 435.2 604.6 845.9 1.197.2 275.3 346.4 471.2 673.2 886.4 
			 2004(4) 326.5 430.2 600.7 836.4 1,176.2 273.3 342.5 465.8 666.0 880.0 
			 2005 323.5 424.5 596.1 842.9 1.188.6 275.3 343.8 470.1 674.3 891.9 
			 2006(5) 326.9 428.4 601.1 851.4 1,216.2 279.6 349.0 476.1 683.8 899.0 
			 2006(6) 326.4 427.0 597.7 848.4 1,210.0 279.3 348.1 473.0 678.8 894.6 
			 2007 323.5 422.7 588.3 833.5 1.190.2 275.7 342.1 466.1 667.5 884.3 
			 2008 320.7 421.0 591.5 835.9 1,196.1 273.1 343.2 467.3 669.5 881.5 
			 2009 333.1 434.7 608.8 863.0 1.240.0 286.6 358.9 488.2 702.6 931.4 
			 2010 321.3 418.3 585.1 832.6 1.189.0 277.9 349.5 477.8 684,0 900.1 
			 2011(7) 305.5 396.5 557.1 793.7 1.147.8 267.6 336.0 460.5 655.8 869.6 
			 2011(8) 304.2 396.3 556.8 793.6 1.146.9 266.0 333.6 455.2 647.7 858.0 
			 2012 300.0 386.6 545.8 769.6 1,097.7 262.0 327.9 448.6 637.4 844.8 
			 (1) Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence. (2) Figures have been calculated at April 2012 prices using the All Items Retail Prices Index. (3) 2004 results excluding supplementary survey for comparison with 2003. (4) 2004 results including supplementary survey designed to improve courage of the survey (for more information see ONS website: www.ons.gov.uk (5) 2006 results with methodology consistent with 2005. (6) 2006 results with methodology consistent with 2007. (7) 2011 results based on Standard Occupational Classification 2000. (8) 2011 results based on Standard Occupational Classification 2010. Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics

Digital Technology

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2013, Official Report, column 259W, on digital technology, when he expects assisted digital service providers to be in place.

Nick Hurd: The Cabinet Office will put a procurement framework in place to enable Departments to appoint service providers. This is expected to be in place by the end of the year.

Dover House

Margaret Curran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2013, Official Report, column 934W, on Dover House, whether all members of the Deputy Prime Minister's staff will be accommodated in Dover House.

Francis Maude: 70 Whitehall is being modernised under a programme initiated by the previous Government. Only staff directly affected by the programme will be temporarily moved to Dover House.

Employment: Leisure

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people were employed in the UK leisure industry in each of the last 30 years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many people were employed in the UK leisure industry in each of the last 30 years: (145205)
	Annex A contains the number of Workforce Jobs (WFJ) in SIC2007 Section R, Arts, Entertainment and Recreation, each year since 1983. WFJ is a quarterly measure of the number of jobs in the UK; the annual series is based on June (quarter 2) estimates. The most recent estimate, that for September (quarter 3) 2012, is also included.
	WFJ is the preferred measure of the change in jobs by industry, and is the sum of employee jobs, self-employment jobs, government-supported trainees and Her Majesty's Forces. This is not the same as the number of people employed, since a person may have more than one job.
	Annex A
	
		
			 Workforce jobs, Standard Industrial Classification (2007), Section R Arts, Entertainment and Recreation 
			  UK seasonally adjusted(1) (thousand) 
			 1983 514 
			 1984 553 
			 1985 579 
			 1986 588 
			 1987 606 
			 1988 625 
			 1989 651 
			 1990 649 
			 1991 630 
			 1992 641 
			 1993 653 
			 1994 655 
			 1995 661 
			 1996 668 
			 1997 690 
			 1998 652 
			 1999 719 
			 2000 750 
			 2001 756 
			 2002 799 
			 2003 800 
			 2004 827 
			 2005 859 
			 2006 890 
			 2007 874 
			 2008 909 
			 2009 848 
			 2010 860 
			 2011 880 
			 2012 894 
			 2012 (September) 884 
			 (1) Annual series based on June (quarter 2) estimates.

Internet

John Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the recent official statistics on internet take-up.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Andrew Dilnot, dated 26 February 2013
	As Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, I am replying to your question asking what assessment has been made of the recent official statistics on internet take-up.
	The UK Statistics Authority undertook a statutory assessment under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 in respect of statistics on internet access, so as to determine compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics and whether or not these statistics may be designated as National Statistics, published in May 2012. The Authority's report is published at:
	http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/assessment/assessment-reports/assessment-report-201---statistics-on-internet-access.pdf
	Following the action taken on the basis of requirements set out in the Authority's assessment report, the outputs were confirmed as National Statistics, and the letter of confirmation, published in October 2012, is at:
	http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/assessment/assessment-reports/confirmation-of-designation-letters/letter-of-confirmation-as-national-statistics---assessment-report-201.pdf

Prostate Cancer

David Lammy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what the (a) one and (b) five year survival rates are for men with prostate cancer in each ethnic minority group;
	(2)  how many men of each ethnic minority group were diagnosed with prostate cancer in the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent questions asking:
	1. What the (a) one and (b) five year survival rates are for men with prostate cancer in each ethnic minority group.
	2. How many men of each ethnic minority group were diagnosed with prostate cancer in the last five years.
	The information requested is not available, as ethnicity is not routinely recorded on individual cancer registrations.
	In 2009, the National Cancer Intelligence Network and Cancer Research UK published a report titled "Cancer Incidence and Survival by Major Ethnic Group, England, 2002-2006", in collaboration with the Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. This report is available at:
	http://www.ncin.org.uk/publications/reports/default.aspx
	The analysis for this report was carried out using cancer registration data linked to Hospital Episode Statistics data.
	The latest published figures on cancer incidence in England are available on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/cancer-statistics-registrations--england--series-mb1-/index.html
	The latest published figures on cancer survival in England are available on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/cancer-unit/cancer-survival/index.html

Public Appointments

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people he appointed to public bodies in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; (i) how many and (ii) what proportion of those appointees were (A) black or from an ethnic minority, (B) Hindu, (C) Muslim and (D) Chinese in each of those years; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: The public bodies sponsored by the Cabinet Office have made 19 appointments and reappointments in 2010-11 and 10 in 2011-12.
	The Commissioner for Public Appointments publishes information in its annual report on the number of appointments of candidates who have declared an ethnic minority background. Information on declared region is not collected.
	Copies of the 2010-11 and 2011-12 annual reports are available at:
	http://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk
	and in the Library of the House.

South West

Andrew Turner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which central government bodies have geographical units which purport to represent an area corresponding to Wessex; what the boundaries of each such unit are; and how the boundaries of each such unit have changed in the last 15 years.

Chloe Smith: The Government is not immediately aware of any current administrative units of central Government which reflect the historic boundaries of Wessex. However, this Government does recognise both traditional and administrative county boundaries, some of which date back over a thousand years of British history.

Staff

Margaret Curran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many members of staff are employed in the Deputy Prime Minister's office.

Francis Maude: The Deputy Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	As part of the transparency agenda, the Department publishes an organogram and structure charts including information on staff and their salaries at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-staff-and-salary-data-30-september-2012--2
	and on data.gov.uk.

Training

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much his Department spent on training and education for civil servants in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: This Government have implemented significant reforms to learning and development in the civil service, with Civil Service Learning (CSL) offering free at the point of access e-learning and other online learning resources that are funded by Departments through centralised contributions. CSL has confirmed savings of £8.44 million for training carried out between March and December 2012, while for the year to date there have been cost savings of 58% in the delivery of face to face training courses against comparable 2009-10 data.
	My Department spent £3,516,959 on training and education in 2010-11 and £3,949,949 in 2011-12.

Unemployment: Yorkshire and the Humber

David Davis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what reduction in long-term unemployment there has been in (a) Haltemprice and Howden constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber since May 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what reduction in long-term unemployment there has been in (a) Haltemprice and Howden constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber since May 2010. (144989)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. However, estimates of long-term unemployment for the requested geographies are not available due to small sample sizes.
	As an alternative, in Table 1 we have provided the change in the number of persons claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for more than 12 months in (a) Haltemprice and Howden parliamentary constituency and (b) Yorkshire and The Humber between May 2010 and January 2013, the latest period available.
	The counts of people claiming JSA are those who are claiming benefits for unemployment related purposes. At a UK level the total number of JSA claimants is around two thirds of the total unemployment level.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Table 1: Change in number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance for more than 12 months in Haltemprice and Howden and Yorkshire and the Humber between May 2010 and January 2013 
			  May 2010 January 2013 Change 
			 Haltemprice and Howden 190 350 160 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 26,140 48,480 22,340 
			 Note: Data rounded to nearest five. Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative system

Wealth

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of national wealth was owned by the richest one per cent of UK residents in each of the last 30 years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of national wealth was owned by the richest one per cent of UK residents in each of the last 30 years. (144977)
	The estimates you request are only available from the Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) which commenced in July 2006. At present only data relating to 2006/08 and 2008/10 are available.
	Between July 2006 and June 2008, the wealthiest one percent of households held 12.9 per cent of total wealth held by private households in Great Britain. The equivalent figure for July 2008 to June 2010 was also 12.9 percent.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bahrain

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the findings of the Amnesty International report entitled Bahrain: Freedom has a price: Two years after Bahrain's uprising published in February 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: I am pleased that Amnesty International was able to visit Bahrain last month; we continue to urge the Government of Bahrain to grant non-governmental organisations unrestricted entry into and access throughout the country.
	The report highlighted a number of important issues which are of concern to us, in particular, the suggestion that people are being imprisoned for exercising their rights to freedom of opinion and expression. We urge the authorities to ensure that it adheres to its international obligations and guarantees its citizens the fundamental rights to which they are entitled.
	Like Amnesty, we welcome the establishment of the Special Investigations Unit to determine the accountability of those who have committed unlawful or negligent acts, but we also have concerns about the low number of officials being investigated and even lower conviction rates. We expect the authorities to follow due process and ensure fair and impartial trials in all cases.

Bahrain

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the government of Bahrain on the imprisonment of (a) opposition political leaders and (b) Ibrahim Sharif al-Sayed.

Alistair Burt: I was deeply dismayed in January when the convictions of the imprisoned opposition political leaders were upheld, including that of Ibrahim Sharif al-Sayed.
	At the time these individuals were sentenced there were reports, acknowledged by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, suggesting some of the defendants had been abused in detention, denied access to legal counsel and coerced into confessing.
	We call on the Government of Bahrain to meet all of its human rights obligations, and guarantee its citizens fundamental liberties and freedom.

Health Services

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support he provided to the recent resolution on universal health coverage at the UN General Assembly.

Anna Soubry: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	The United Kingdom acted as a co-sponsor of the Resolution and remains committed to the principles contained within it.

Iran

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department will make a statement on the human rights situation in Iran at the forthcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva; whether the intensification of persecution of the Bahá'í community will be raised at this meeting; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Securing the extension of the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran at the forthcoming Human Rights Council is a UK priority. We are currently considering our position on the text of the resolution to secure this mandate. A procedural resolution may be easier to achieve. The UK will refer to the reported escalation of persecution of the Baha'is in Iran in its intervention during the presentation of the Special Rapporteur's report to the Council on 11 March, as well as a number of other examples of Iran's appalling human rights record.

Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress there has been ahead of the Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee on the proposed WMD-Free Middle East Conference.

Alistair Burt: The Government supports the objectives of a middle east weapons of mass destruction (WMD) free zone, and the convening of a conference as soon as possible. In 2011, the co-convenors selected Finland as the designated host country for the Middle East WMD Free Zone Conference, and appointed Finnish Under-Secretary, Jaakko Laajava, as facilitator for the conference. Since then, the co-convenors have regularly met with the facilitator and the states of the region to discuss progress towards the conference. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Ministers discussed the conference with counterparts in the middle east, and our officials travelled to the region to promote constructive engagement and support for the work of the facilitator. A series of civil society organised events—some funded by the FCO— have taken place, which aimed to build confidence between the key parties.
	On 23 November 2012 the USA announced the postponement of the conference. I made a statement on 24 November 2012 regretting the postponement of the conference, reiterating the UK's commitment to convening the conference as soon as possible and its support for the facilitator. In November 2012, the facilitator wrote to the states of the region to propose multilateral consultations, currently planned for March 2013, in order to intensify the preparations for the conference. Consultations are essential to agree conference arrangements “freely arrived at by the states of the region”, according to the 2010 non-proliferation treaty mandate. On 7 February 2013, I spoke to the facilitator reiterating our support for him and the consultations, and our commitment to the process.

Syria

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the position of (a) Russia and (b) China at the United Nations Security Council on intervention in the Syrian conflict.

Alistair Burt: As UN Security Council members we continue to press both Russia and China to back the more decisive action needed to compel all parties to the conflict in Syria to cease the violence and to work towards a political solution. We were extremely disappointed with their decision to veto three UNSC Resolutions on Syria. However, in the absence of such a resolution, the UK is intensifying its work as set out in an oral statement to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), on 10 January 2013, Official Report, columns 483-86.

Syria

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance his Department is giving to anti-government forces in Syria.

Alistair Burt: The UK has so far committed £9.4 million in non-lethal assistance to the Syrian unarmed opposition and civil society. This has included communications support, generators, water purification systems and support for local administrative councils. We continue to offer the National Coalition assistance as it develops political structures and establishes itself as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

PRIME MINISTER

Business Advisory Group

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Prime Minister what criteria he uses to determine membership of the Government's Business Advisory Panel.

David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the press notice issued by my office on 19 December 2012 which is available on the No. 10 website. A copy has been placed in both Libraries of the House.

Cyprus

David Burrowes: To ask the Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the election of Nikos Anastiasides as the new President of the Republic of Cyprus; and whether he intends for President Anastiasides to visit the UK for a state visit.

David Cameron: I spoke to the President-elect of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, on 24 February to congratulate him on his election success. I look forward to working closely with Mr Anastasiades on shared priorities in the months ahead and hope to welcome him to London at an early opportunity.

India

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Prime Minister whether and with whom he discussed the abolition of the death penalty during his recent visit to India; and which specific cases were raised in any such discussions.

David Cameron: It is the long-standing policy of the British Government to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. While in New Delhi, the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), made clear our concerns to Ranjan Mathai, Foreign Secretary (Permanent Under-Secretary equivalent) at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

Mass Media

William Bain: To ask the Prime Minister what meetings (a) he and (b) officials at No 10 Downing Street have held with representatives of the media since the publication by Lord Justice Leveson of his report on press standards; and what the outcomes were of those meetings.

David Cameron: Details of my meetings with external organisations, including meetings with newspaper and other media proprietors, editors and senior executives are published on a quarterly basis. Details can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website.

Reserve Forces

Bob Russell: To ask the Prime Minister how many members of staff at No. 10 Downing street have applied to join the armed forces reserves in the last 12 months.

Francis Maude: holding answer 25 February 2013
	I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	My Department does not at present hold information about employees serving in the armed forces reserves.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Air Pollution

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to reduce the annual quantum of emissions to air in the UK of (a) particulates, (b) hexavalent chromium, (c) ammonia, (d) arsenic, (e) nitrogen dioxide, (f) black carbon and (g) hydrofluorocarbons.

Richard Benyon: For particulates (including black carbon), ammonia and nitrogen dioxide, the revised UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Gothenburg Protocol set new Emission Reduction Commitments (as a percent reduction from 2005) to be achieved by 2020 for the four pollutants currently covered by the National Emissions Ceilings Directive (NECD). These are oxides of nitrogen (NOx), ammonia, sulphur dioxide (SO2) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The Protocol also set a target for a new pollutant, fine particulate matter (or PM2.5). The UK targets are detailed in the table. These emission reductions will help to reduce trans-boundary air pollution and damage to health and ecosystems.
	The UK currently meets all four 2010 national emission ceilings as set out in the NECD. As part of its 2013 review of air quality policies, we expect the European Commission to propose revisions to the NECD to implement the revised Gothenburg Protocol at EU level.
	
		
			 UNECE, UK annual emissions and targets 2010-20 (ktonnes) 
			  Nitrogen oxides (NOx) Sulphur dioxide (SO2) Ammonia (NH3) Non methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) PM2.5 
			 2010 emissions 1106 406 284 789 67 
			 2010 Gothenburg Protocol target 1181 625 297 1200 n/a 
			 2020 Gothenburg Protocol ERC—percentage reduction from 2005 55 59 8 32 30 
			 2020 Gothenburg Protocol ERC(1) 711 289 282 740 57 
			 (1) Emission reduction commitments under the Gothenburg Protocol are declared as a percentage reduction. The figures given in this table have been calculated for illustrative purposes and may change if the 2005 base year emissions change due to future inventory revisions. 
		
	
	Plans and measures are in place at both national and European level to achieve reductions in emissions of particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen (including nitrogen dioxide). These include tighter vehicle emission standards for all forms of road transport. Other measures to promote low and ultra low emission vehicles and decarbonise the transport sector will also help achieve significant reductions in emissions of these pollutants.
	The trend for increased nitrogen use efficiency in the arable sector and improved production efficiency in the livestock sectors will help reduce emissions of ammonia.
	Arsenic and chromium emissions arise from a range of sources, but policies to improve energy efficiency and decarbonise fuel use are projected to reduce emissions in the future.
	Industrial sources of all these pollutants are controlled through the system of integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) which now forms part of the industrial emissions Directive (2010/75/EU). In IPPC, where the regulator considers that any of these pollutants is likely to be emitted in significant quantities from any installation, it has to set emission limit values (ELVs) for that installation. These ELVs are based on the application of best available techniques.
	Regulation (EC) No. 842/2006 provides a comprehensive regulatory regime to control emissions of fluorinated gases, including hydrofluorocarbons, as part of our commitments under the Kyoto Protocol and is fully implemented in the UK. We are currently considering a draft proposal from the European Commission for further controls on fluorinated gases which, should it be agreed and implemented, could deliver significantly greater reductions in future hydrofluorocarbon emissions. We continue to support efforts under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Montreal Protocol to secure an international phase-down in the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons.

Beef: Horse Meat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what requests for meetings regarding the presence of horsemeat in beef products the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food has received from retailers in the last six months; and how many such meetings were subsequently held.

David Heath: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), and I have received a number of letters from retailers in the last six months, but nothing related to horsemeat including any requests for meetings on that subject.
	The Secretary of State met food industry representatives on 9 February and 12 February. He also met with retailers, at the Government's request, on 18 February to discuss the response to the presence of horsemeat in some processed beef products. I also met with the food industry on 4 February and 13 February.

Beef: Horse Meat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has shared with retailers the names of companies suspected of importing beef that contains horsemeat given to the Food Standards Agency by the hon. Member for Wakefield.

David Heath: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not provided retailers with the names of companies suspected of importing beef that contains horsemeat. The appropriate course of action was to share it with the competent enforcement authority, the Food Standards Agency. The Food Standards Agency has confirmed that providing the companies' names to the food industry could seriously compromise ongoing investigations.

Birds: Imports

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many captive-bred birds of British species, listed by licence classification, have been imported into England in each of the last six months.

Richard Benyon: Captive bred birds are imported into England for many reasons and the requirements to declare and record the importation of birds differ depending on the species, country of origin and purpose of importation. Sufficiently comprehensive information is not readily available.

Dangerous Dogs

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 6 February 2013, Official Report, column 16WS, on irresponsible dog ownership, whether the Government plans to bring forward in this parliamentary Session amendments to existing legislation to allow for the introduction of compulsory microchipping in England.

David Heath: The legislative mechanism for introducing compulsory microchipping of all dogs will be through regulations made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. We consider that owners, breeders, veterinary practices, local authorities, microchipping database companies and other affected parties need adequate time to prepare for the change in law. We therefore propose bringing the regulations into force in 2014 with the requirement that all dogs should be microchipped by April 2016.

Food Banks

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make it his policy to collect data on the number of families with children using food banks.

David Heath: The provision of food aid ranges from small, local provision, through to regional and national schemes. The landscape is mostly community-led provision responding to local needs. As such, the Government does not believe it is possible to keep a record of the number of food banks, nor the potential number of people using them or other types of food aid, without placing unnecessary burdens on volunteers trying to help their communities.

Food: Labelling

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on food labelling and food provenance policy issues; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: I am working closely with my counterparts in Ireland and across Europe to ensure that the current unacceptable situation with horsemeat cannot happen again, this includes a three month programme of DNA testing of beef products across the EU covering domestic and imported products, the first results will be published on 15 April. Meat products across the EU will be DNA tested for horsemeat. In addition, both domestic and imported horsemeat will be tested for bute. The current system is based on paperwork, this introduces a programme of testing real products.
	Secondly, we agreed to a new intelligence system so that information about the current investigations can be shared immediately. This will enable other member states to act straight away if they have any suspicions that food businesses are not playing by the rules. Members states also agreed to use Europol to co-ordinate law enforcement efforts. Thirdly, because of the urgency with which we have to deal with what is clearly an international issue, we agreed that the European Commission's report and recommendations on labelling the origin of all processed meat should be accelerated and published as soon as possible. I expect that this will provide consumers with clearer and more reliable information on where meat products come from. The Secretary of State made a statement to this effect on 13 February.

Horse Meat

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Food Standards Agency about the (a) frequency and (b) results of the testing of gelatine and gelatine-based products for horse DNA.

David Heath: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is carrying out a coordinated plan for sampling and testing the authenticity of meat products labelled as containing beef. The FSA is not aware of any gelatine or gelatine-based products as having tested positive for horsemeat.

Livestock: Transport

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his contributions of 13 December 2012, Official Report, column 531, on live animal exports, which companies have received verbal warnings from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency in the last six months; how many such warnings each company has received; for what reasons each warning was issued; what further action has been taken against any recipients of the warnings; and if he will estimate the effect of such warnings on those companies' compliance with other animal welfare provisions.

David Heath: In the last six months, the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) have issued two verbal warnings on transporters undertaking live animal exports from Ramsgate Port. The reasons for the two verbal warnings were (1) a transporter not having the means to measure the water level in the tank containing the animals drinking water; however, the AHVLA inspector could see there was sufficient water for the journey: and (2) one ventilation fan was not functioning at the time of inspection, but was fixed by the driver before the journey continued. No further action was taken against the two transporters, although the warnings have been recorded and will be taken into account if further infringements of the legislation are made by the same transporters. See:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/ahvla-en/publication/advice-wato-enforcement/
	for further details on AHVLA's regulatory policy.
	The AHVLA cannot provide information on which transport companies the verbal warnings were issued to. To do so would be discriminatory and given safety concerns, such disclosure would not be an appropriate measure.

Means-tested Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what means-tested (a) cash and (b) non-cash benefits are provided by his Department; what the means-testing rules are for each such benefit; and how much was spent on each means-tested benefit in 2011-12.

Richard Benyon: Core DEFRA does not provide any means-tested benefits.

Meat Products

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what dates he has met with representatives of supermarkets to discuss the authenticity of meat products since January 2013.

David Heath: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), met with representatives of supermarkets and other food businesses to discuss meat products on 9, 12 and 18 February. I met with representatives of supermarkets and other food businesses to discuss this issue on 4 and 13 February.
	DEFRA and Food Standards Agency (FSA) officials met with food industry representatives on 16 and 24 January to discuss authenticity of meat products. The FSA and DEFRA also met key trade bodies, and representatives from UK food manufacturers, retailers, caterers and wholesalers, including suppliers into public institutional catering on 11 February.

Meat Products

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he has asked supermarkets to take to ensure the authenticity of meat products since January 2013.

David Heath: On 9 February major retailers and food distributors agreed to a clear plan of urgent action to deal with the problem of horsemeat in processed beef products. This included rapid testing of beef products with meaningful results expected within one week. The first results from that survey were published on 15 February. The retailers and industry bodies agreed to the Secretary of State’s proposal that they work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on making checks further down the food chain and have agreed to let the FSA know as soon as they become aware of a potential problem in their products.
	A statement following the Secretary of State's most recent meeting with food industry representatives can be found at:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-vote-office/February_2013/27-Feb/3.DEFRA-Agricultural-Council-Horsemeat-Fraud.pdf

Meat: Contamination

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that adulterated meat can in future be detected in the UK.

David Heath: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), and I are working closely with our counterparts in Ireland and across Europe to ensure that the current unacceptable situation with horsemeat cannot happen again. This includes a three month programme of DNA testing of beef products across the EU covering domestic and imported products, the first results of which will be received on 15 April. In addition, both domestic and imported horsemeat will be tested for bute. The current paperwork based system will be replaced by a programme of testing real products.
	Secondly, we have agreed to a new intelligence system so that information about the current investigations can be shared immediately. This will enable other member states to act immediately if they have any suspicions that food businesses are not playing by the rules. Member states have also agreed to use Europol to coordinate law enforcement efforts. Thirdly, because of the urgency with which we have to deal with what is clearly an international issue, we have agreed that the European Commission's report and recommendations on labelling the origin of all processed meat should be accelerated and published as soon as possible. We expect that this will provide consumers with clearer and more reliable information on where meat products come from. The Secretary of State made a statement to this effect on 13 February 2013.
	We will work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and food businesses to learn any lessons, and to make any changes that are needed to reinforce the integrity of the food chain. We want to restore and maintain consumer confidence. The FSA is working with scientists and food businesses to set a realistic maximum level of “carry over” for processing plants handling more than one type of meat if they follow good hygiene practices. Above this level there should be nothing in processed meat except what it says on the label. This is a complicated process and may take several weeks. In addition, the FSA is conducting tests for horsemeat in beef products which will help pinpoint the parts of the food supply chain which may require strengthening to minimise the risk of food fraud.

Meat: Contamination

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the steps being put in place to prevent any further contamination of meat entering the food chain; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), and I are working closely with our counterparts in Ireland and across Europe to ensure that the current unacceptable situation with horsemeat cannot happen again. This includes a three month programme of DNA testing of beef products across the EU covering domestic and imported products, the first results of which will be received on 15 April. In addition, both domestic and imported horsemeat will be tested for bute. The current paperwork based system will be replaced by a programme of testing real products.
	Secondly, we have agreed to a new intelligence system so that information about the current investigations can be shared immediately. This will enable other member states to act immediately if they have any suspicions that food businesses are not playing by the rules. Member states have also agreed to use Europol to co-ordinate law enforcement efforts. Thirdly, because of the urgency with which we have to deal with what is clearly an international issue, we have agreed that the European Commission's report and recommendations on labelling the origin of all processed meat should be accelerated and published as soon as possible. We expect that this will provide consumers with clearer and more reliable information on where meat products come from. The Secretary of State made a statement to this effect on 13 February 2013.
	I will work with the Food Standards Agency and food businesses to learn any lessons, and to make any changes that are needed to reinforce the integrity of the food chain, and restore and maintain consumer confidence. The FSA is working with scientists and food businesses to set a realistic maximum level of “carry over” for processing plants handling more than one type of meat if they follow good hygiene practices. Above this level there should be nothing in processed meat except what is listed on the label. This is a complicated process and may take several weeks. In addition, the FSA is conducting tests for horsemeat in beef products which will help pinpoint the parts of the food supply chain which may require strengthening to minimise the risk of food fraud.

Meat: Origin Marking

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what requirement exists for meat and meat products to contain labelling on their nationality if they are sourced from within the EU; and what requirement exists for the nationality of such products to be labelled if such products are sourced from outside the EU.

David Heath: Indication of origin is mandatory for all unprocessed beef and beef products sold in the EU, whether sourced from within or outside of the EU. There is no legal requirement to provide origin labelling for other meats, but we have worked with retailers to ensure strong voluntary take up of this in the UK.
	Country of origin labelling for food products forms part of ongoing discussions on the EU Food Information to Consumers (FIC) Regulation. Most of the regulation's provisions will come into force on 13 December 2014. From that date it will become mandatory (subject to implementing rules to be made by the Commission before 13 December 2013) for fresh, frozen and chilled pork, lamb, goat and poultry meat to have an indication of country of origin or place of provenance regardless of where it has come from. It is a DEFRA priority to make sure that the Commission implementing rules will be appropriate and workable.

Stone: Theft

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the theft of Yorkshire stone from heritage sites such as Bolling Hall, Haworth Cemetery and the Brontë cemetery at Thornton, West Yorkshire.

Edward Vaizey: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
	English Heritage's assessment of the risk of crime and antisocial behaviour related to heritage has identified four key priorities, including architectural theft and includes the theft of metal and stone from historic sites and buildings. To tackle this English Heritage has recently published guidance in relation to risk assessment, crime prevention measures and the use of impact statements. They have also signed a formal memorandum of understanding with the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Crown Prosecution Service, and a growing number of local authorities and Community Safety Partnerships, including the Peak District National Park Authority, which has a boundary within the borough of Sheffield city.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Discrimination

Harriet Harman: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what steps she plans to take to tackle discrimination on the grounds of age and sex.

Helen Grant: A ban on age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services, the exercise of public functions, and the running of private clubs and associations came into effect on 1 October 2012, when the relevant provisions of the Equality Act 2010 came into force. The ban is designed to catch only those actions or omissions that result in genuinely unfair discrimination because of age. It does not stop service providers offering age-specific goods and services which are beneficial or justifiable, such as priority flu vaccinations and age-related concessions, such as cheaper rates for using leisure facilities.
	We have established a Women's Business Council, an advisory body for Ministers, which is looking at ways of maximising women's contribution to economic growth. The council is considering the needs of older women in the context of extended working lives, recognising that older women require targeted support to stay in the workplace and to develop their skills to meet new challenges. The Council will make recommendations to Ministers in the summer.
	We also reformed the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), Great Britain's designated equality body. The EHRC has powers to, among other things, promote equality and tackle discrimination in relation to age and gender. As an arm's length body it is for the EHRC's board to determine its priorities and work plan, and these are set out in the EHRC's annual business plan.

Females: Employment

Robert Halfon: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what measures have been put in place by her Department to encourage women to get back into work.

Mark Hoban: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
	The Government, through universal credit, Jobcentre Plus flexibilities and the Work programme is reforming the welfare system to improve incentives and provide more effective support to those without work. Advisers now have the flexibility to offer all women and men, a comprehensive menu of help which includes skills provision and job search support. All claimants who are long term unemployed can access the tailored, back to work support, on offer from the Work programme.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities how many staff were employed by the Government Equalities Office in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

Helen Grant: The information for the years 2007-10 is only available as full-time equivalent (FTE) figures presented in the accounts as follows:
	
		
			  Staff 
			 2007-08 88 
			 2008-09 102 
			 2009-10 130 
		
	
	The information requested on the grade and numbers of staff employed by the Government Equalities Office (GEO) from 2010, is in the public domain at:
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/staff-organograms-and-pay-government-equalities-office
	In 2007-08, GEO was established as a stand-alone Government Department and was establishing its own corporate centre to meet legal and parliamentary obligations. It relied heavily on the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for support during this period. From 2008-10, GEO was operating as a Government Department and required a larger corporate centre to carry out the roles of a Department. From 1 April, GEO joined the Home Office and the corporate centre was absorbed into the Home Office, and this meant a significant fall in staffing between 2010 and 2011.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices: North West

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprenticeships in each sector commenced in (a) City of Chester constituency and (b) the north west in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: Tables 1 and 2 show the number of apprenticeship starts by sector subject area in the City of Chester parliamentary constituency and the north west region respectively. Data are shown for 2007/08 to 2011/12, the latest year for which full year data are available.
	
		
			 Table 1: Apprenticeship programme starts in City of Chester parliamentary constituency by sector subject area, 2011/12 
			 Sector subject area 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 
			 Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care 10 10 10 — 10 
			 Arts, Media and Publishing — — — — — 
			 Business, Administration and Law 70 100 130 220 320 
		
	
	
		
			 Construction, Planning and the Built Environment 30 40 20 30 20 
			 Education and Training — — — — — 
			 Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies 50 40 40 50 50 
			 Health, Public Services and Care 30 60 50 160 220 
			 Information and Communication Technology 10 10 10 20 20 
			 Languages, Literature and Culture — — — — — 
			 Leisure, Travel and Tourism — 10 20 50 40 
			 Preparation for Life and Work — — — — — 
			 Retail and Commercial Enterprise 110 110 140 210 230 
			 Science and Mathematics — — — — — 
			 Unknown 10 — — — — 
			 Total 300 370 410 750 900 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Apprenticeship programme starts in north west region by sector subject area, 2011/12 
			 Sector subject area 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 
			 Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care 500 590 610 960 1,140 
			 Arts, Media and Publishing 30 30 70 80 100 
			 Business, Administration and Law 8,530 11,020 15,090 25,830 31,640 
			 Construction, Planning and the Built Environment 5,560 5,330 4,630 4,790 3,700 
			 Education and Training 150 130 240 890 1,580 
			 Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies 6,320 5,010 5,350 8,590 8,470 
			 Health, Public Services and Care 4,650 5,260 7,100 14,570 18,650 
			 Information and Communication Technology 720 580 1,010 2,020 2,200 
			 Languages, Literature and Culture — — — — — 
			 Leisure, Travel and Tourism 750 1,580 3,030 4,720 4,650 
			 Preparation for Life and Work — — — — — 
			 Retail and Commercial Enterprise 7,680 7,010 10,160 16,220 17,100 
			 Science and Mathematics — — — — 80 
		
	
	
		
			 Unknown 590 — — — — 
			 Total 35,480 36,530 47,280 78,660 89,310 
			 Notes: 1. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10. ‘—’ indicates a value of less than five. 2. Geographic breakdowns are based upon the home postcode of the learner. 3. Figures are based on the geographic boundaries as of May 2010. Source: Individualised Learner Record

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2013, Official Report, column 117W, on broadband, what progress he has made on development of the information economy strategy.

David Willetts: As part of the Government's industrial strategy we are committed to developing a long-term strategic partnership with 11 key sectors, of which the information economy is one. Working with industry, we will produce a strategy for the information economy which outlines a long-term vision for the sector and an action plan for delivery. The information economy strategy is due to be published in spring 2013. A call for evidence is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/information-economy-strategy-call-for-views-and-evidence
	and closes on 15 March 2013.

Business: Regulation

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to lift the burden of red tape from small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK.

Michael Fallon: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) on 20 December 2012, Official Report, column 864W.
	From 1 January 2013 we moved to the One-in, Two-Out rule under which any increase in the cost of regulation must be at least matched by finding double the savings elsewhere.
	The number of businesses we have engaged in Primary Authority partnerships has risen from 611 to 674, and the number of local authorities involved has risen from 95 to 100. The consultation on the implementation of Primary Authority for several new areas of business has recently closed.

Business: Sittingbourne

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many companies are registered in Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency.

Michael Fallon: Companies House estimates that 5598 companies are registered in Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency.
	These figures are estimates because Companies House's data is drawn from postcode areas; and these areas can cross constituency boundaries.

Equal Pay

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the extent to which the employment practice known as the Swedish Derogation is utilised by public sector bodies.

Jo Swinson: The Swedish Derogation is the name sometimes used to describe a derogation permitted under the Agency Workers Directive.
	For this derogation to apply the agency worker must be paid between assignments and be a permanent employee of the temporary work agency.
	In addition to the benefits that agency workers under such contracts receive from being employees, they are also entitled to the rights set out in the Agency Workers Regulations. The one exception is the right to receive pay equal to a person recruited directly by the hirer to the same job.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not made an assessment about this and other types of employment contract utilised by public sector bodies.

EU Grants and Loans

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that EU transition zone funding is most effectively targeted on local economy priorities.

Michael Fallon: The Government will be in a position to advise on how funding should be best targeted for transition regions only after there is a final agreement between the European Parliament and member states on the EU budget for 2014-20.

Export Credit Guarantees: Indonesia

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 18W, if his Department will disaggregate Indonesia's debt between defence and non-defence exports; and what the defence exports to Indonesia consisted of.

Michael Fallon: As stated in my answer of 7 January 2013, Official Report, column 18W, it is not possible to disaggregate current amounts owing under bilateral debt agreements between military and non-military exports.
	UK Export Finance recently published information available in the House Library about original sovereign debts payables. This analysis indicates that approximately 74% of the value of Indonesia's original debt was attributed to defence exports. It would involve disproportionate cost to determine what defence exports make up this original debt.

Groceries Code Adjudicator

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the cost to consumers of the introduction of the role of the Groceries Code Adjudicator; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: As set out in the Government's impact assessment, the Groceries Code Adjudicator will not result in any cost to consumers. On the contrary, by increasing investment and innovation in the groceries supply chain, the Adjudicator will act in the long-term benefit of consumers by increasing choice.
	A link to the Government's impact assessment is as follows:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/31593/11-937-groceries-code-adiudicator-impact-assessment.pdf

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of Local Enterprise Partnership boards are comprised of representatives of (a) the private sector, (b) the public sector, (c) trade unions, (d) universities, (e) further education colleges and (f) chambers of commerce.

Michael Fallon: Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) board membership is a matter for LEPs themselves, although Government does request that LEP chairs and 50% of the LEP board should come from the business sector. Current information on LEP board representation across all 39 LEPs is:
	
		
			 Members of Higher Education institutions 36 
			 Members of Further Education institutions 16 
			 Trade unions 1 
			 Chambers of commerce (this includes chief executives of Chambers and business people who are chamber members) 23 
		
	
	Last year's autumn statement announced that LEPs will be given a role setting skills strategies consistent with national objectives and chartered status for FE colleges will be linked to having taken account of the skills priorities of local LEPs. In addition, the Government will encourage LEPs to have a seat on FE colleges' governing bodies, with colleges represented on LEP Boards.

Public Expenditure

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with (a) HM Treasury and (b) other departments on the single funding pot model for regional spending allocation.

Michael Fallon: Since my noble Friend Lord Heseltine published his report “No Stone Unturned” in October 2012, there have been a number of cross-departmental discussions of his recommendations, including the single pot model.
	As announced at the autumn statement, the Government will publish a full response in the spring.

JUSTICE

Electronic Tagging

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what requirements his Department has imposed on the suppliers of the new electronic monitoring contracts, scheduled to commence in April 2013; and when his Department expects to have completed negotiations on those contracts.

Jeremy Wright: The specific details and the requirements imposed on specific contractors for the electronic monitoring contract are scheduled to be published in late summer 2013, after the contract award date. A redacted version of the contract and all the schedules will be published on the Contracts Finder website:
	https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/

Electronic Tagging

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what budget his Department has allocated for electronic tagging from 1 April 2013.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice is putting out to competition new contracts for the delivery of electronic monitoring services. The new contracts will allow us to introduce the most advanced technology, improving delivery and providing better value for taxpayers.
	It would not be appropriate to give information on the budget while the competition is in progress.

Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many claimants for employment and support allowance have had their appeals overturned at a tribunal in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) South Lanarkshire and (d) Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency in each year since 2010.

Helen Grant: Appeals against decisions made by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on an individual's entitlement to employment and support allowance (ESA) are heard by the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), administered by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service.
	Appeals can be made against elements of an ESA award, such as the rate of entitlement, as well as against a decision to refuse ESA.
	The SSCS Tribunal covers Great Britain but not Northern Ireland, which has its own Appeals Service. The tribunal venue in Hamilton serves appellants living in South Lanarkshire and the Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency as well as other nearby locations.
	The following tables show the number and proportion of ESA appeals found (1) in favour of the appellant and (2) in favour of DWP in 2010-11, 2011-12, and April-September 2012 (the latest period for which information is available) in (a) Great Britain, (b) Scotland, and (c) Hamilton tribunal venue.
	
		
			 Employment and support allowance appeals—Great Britain 
			   Decisions in favour of the appellant Decisions in favour of DWP 
			  ESA cases cleared at hearing(1) Number Percentage Number Percentage 
			 April 2010 to March 2011 127,100 47,600 37 78,400 62 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 168,000 65,400 39 101,600 60 
			 April to September 2012 97,600 41,200 42 56,100 57 
		
	
	
		
			 Employment and support allowance appeals—Scotland 
			   Decisions in favour of the appellant Decisions in favour of DWP 
			  ESA cases cleared at hearing(1) Number Percentage Number Percentage 
			 April 2010 to March 2011 18,900 7,600 40 10,900 58 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 22,800 9,600 42 13,000 57 
			 April to September 2012 12,500 5,800 46 6,700 53 
		
	
	
		
			 Employment and support allowance appeals—Hamilton tribunal venue 
			   Decisions in favour of the appellant Decisions in favour of DWP 
			  ESA cases cleared at hearing(1) Number Percentage Number Percentage 
			 April 2010 to March 2011 2,200 720 33 1,400 66 
			 April 2011 to March 2012 2,500 930 38 1,500 61 
			 April to September 2012 1,400 580 42 800 58 
			 (1) These are cases that were disposed of at a hearing. The total number of cases cleared at hearing includes some cases that were withdrawn and on which no decision was made. These figures therefore arc not the sum total of decisions in favour and decisions upheld. Note: Data is taken from management information.

Fuels: Smuggling

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions he has had with other Government departments on the number of custodial sentences handed down for offences relating to fuel smuggling in the last 10 years; and what assessment his Department has made of the deterrent effect of harsher sentences for offences involving fuel smuggling.

Jeremy Wright: The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), has had no specific discussions with other Government Departments on sentencing for fuel smuggling. The Ministry of Justice has made no assessment of the deterrent effects of sentencing for fuel smuggling. The Department of Justice for Northern Ireland will shortly be consulting on new legislation which will enable the Director of Public Prosecutions to seek leave to appeal those sentences in fuel and other excise frauds, perceived to be unduly lenient, to the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland.

Hunting Act 2004

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions have been executed under each category of offence under the provisions of the Hunting Act 2004 in each year since the commencement of that Act.

Jeremy Wright: The number of defendants proceeded against for each category of offence under the provisions of the Hunting Act 2004 since the commencement of the Act can be viewed in the following table:
	
		
			 Defendants proceeded against for offences under the Hunting Act 2004(1), England and Wales, 2005-11(2,3) 
			 Offence description Section 2005 2006 2007 2008(4) 2009 2010 2011 
			 Hunting a wild mammal with a dog SS.1 and 6 2 10 57 41 77 46 60 
			 Knowingly permitting land to be entered or used in the course of hunting a wild mammal with dogs SS.3(1) and 6 — — 1 — — — — 
			 Knowingly permitting a dog to be used in the course of hunting a wild mammal SS.3(2) and 6 — 1 — — 5 3 1 
			 Participating in a hare coursing event SS.5(1)(a) and 6 — — — 1 5 — 11 
			 Attending a hare coursing event SS.5(1)(b) and 6 — — — 2 2 — — 
			 Knowingly facilitating a hare coursing event SS.5(1)(c) and 6 — — — — 1 — — 
			 Permit land to be used for the purpose of a hare coursing event SS.5(1)(d) and 6 — — — — 2 — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Entering, permitting or controlling/handling a dog for a hare coursing event SS.5(2)(a)(b)(c) and 6 — — 4 — — — — 
			 ‘—’= Nil (1) The Act came into force on 18th February 2005. (2) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Excludes Cardiff magistrates court records for June, July and August 2008. Source: Ministry of Justice, Justice Statistics Analytical Services

Prisoners: Disclosure of Information

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  when he first became aware of the case of R(M) v Parole Board and Secretary of State for Justice;
	(2)  when he approved the issuing of a statement by a Ministry of Justice spokesperson criticising the granting of anonymity for one of the parties in the case of R(M) v Parole Board and Secretary of State for Justice.

Jeremy Wright: I first became aware of the case of R(M) v. Parole Board on 24 January 2013. On the same day, I approved a statement to make it clear that I did not approve of the consent order which had been signed on my behalf in relation to an application for anonymity for one of the parties to that case. As was explained in the statement, the signing of the consent order was as a result of a misunderstanding between officials. I have now applied for the anonymity order to be discharged.

Prisons

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with respect to HM Prison (a) Cardiff, (b) Forex Bank, (c) Northallerton, (d) Nottingham, (e) Portland, (f) Preston, (g) Rochester, (h) Stone Heath and (i) Swansea, what facilities and services have been shared between the adult and young offenders' institutions; and to what extent there was interaction between the inmates of both institutions within each prison since May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: Young adults and adult offenders held at the prisons named have been located together on the same wings thereby enabling them to mix during periods of association. However, where the available prison cellular accommodation is designed to hold two offenders, young adults (ie aged 18 to 21 years of age) and adults do not share cells. Both young adult and adult offenders are able to access equally all facilities and services offered by the individual prisons such as education, work opportunities, health services and the Chaplaincy. This also includes periods of access to the open air and the gymnasium. Between May 2010 and March 2011 Stoke Heath held young persons under the age of 18 and young adults. These populations were held separately and did not mix within the establishment.

Prisons: Arson

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many incidents of arson took place in prisons in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service has a range of measures for monitoring fire safety in prisons but does not specifically monitor the number of arson incidents. Counting these, requires knowledge of the cause of each fire, the motivation of any perpetrator and the outcome of any subsequent police investigation.
	The following table shows the number of fire incidents in London prisons and the total for all prisons in England and Wales for the last five years for which data is available (figures for 2012 will not be available until April 2013). The majority of the fire incidents reported are non-accidental but the precise numbers due to arson are unknown.
	
		
			 Fire incidents 
			  London prisons Prisons in England and Wales 
			 2007 185 980 
			 2008 148 1,030 
			 2009 114 996 
			 2010 173 907 
			 2011 173 942 
		
	
	These figures are drawn from administrative systems and have not been quality assured to the standard required of official statistics and should be treated as provisional.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to combat violence in prisons;
	(2)  how many violent incidents have been recorded in prisons in London in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many violent incidents were recorded in prisons in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: NOMS is fully committed to zero tolerance to violence in our prisons. Violence is not acceptable in any form. Everyone has the right to be in a safe environment free from abuse, harm or oppression.
	The National Offender Management Service requires that details of a variety of incidents are reported through central administrative systems but the term "violent incident" is not one used in the data held on administrative systems. The closest match of the type of incident recorded on administrative systems is assaults, which by definition are violent incidents, though other types of incident may also be regarded as being violent incidents.
	Figures for assaults in the London Region and all prisons in England and Wales for 2007 to 2011, the last five complete calendar years for which figures are available, are provided in Table 1. Figures for 2012 are scheduled to be available on 25 April 2013.
	Figures for the number of assaults in a region may not be comparable over time. This is because the number of assaults in a particular region may be affected by a number of factors including the opening and closing of prisons and changes to the categorisation or composition of establishments within a region.
	Within the London Region the prison population increased between 2007 and 2011. This was partly due to the opening of HMP and YOI Isis in July 2010 and changes in capacity in existing prisons over the period. HMP Latchmere House closed in September 2011.
	
		
			 Table 1: Assaults in prisons, 2007-11 
			  Number of assault incidents 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 London Region (excluding new and closed establishments) 1,862 2,100 2,016 2,051 2,296 
			 London Region (all establishments) 1,862 2,101 2,017 2,075 2,503 
			 England and Wales 15,272 15,959 15,185 14,356 15,457 
			 Note: Figures for the London Region are based on the current regional group consisting of Brixton, Bronzefield, Coldingley, Downview, Feltham, High Down, Holloway, Isis, Latchmere House, Pentonville, Send, Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubs. Belmarsh is included since it is physically in the London region but it is managed within the high security prisons directorate. Thameside opened in 2012 and so is not included in these figures. Source: National Offender Management Service administrative systems 
		
	
	The National Offender Management Service are investigating the causes of the increase in assaults in London and will take appropriate action to address the rise.

Prisons: Drugs

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which prisons have held amnesties for needles used for drug-taking in the last three years.

Jeremy Wright: Information related to the number of prisons in England and Wales that have held amnesties for needles is not recorded centrally. To provide it information would require a survey of all prisons and incur disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Drugs

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the types of illegal drugs which are being taken intravenously in prisons.

Jeremy Wright: Estimating the extent of any covert activity, such as drug use in prisons, is by nature very difficult. However between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2012 932 needles and improvised needles were seized in prisons which indicates that the extent of intravenous drug use in prisons is low.
	These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems on 13 February 2013 which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Prisons: Drugs

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department takes (a) disciplinary and (b) other action in respect of prison governors whose prisoners are found to be (i) under the influence of and (ii) in possession of illegal drugs.

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has not taken disciplinary action or any other action in respect of prison governors whose prisoners are found to be under the influence of and in possession of illegal drugs.
	NOMS has a comprehensive range of measures available to prison governors to tackle drugs. These include drug detection dogs, procedures to tackle visitors who seek to smuggle drugs and phones into prisons, increasing the number of drug free wings in prisons and rolling out a networked IT intelligence system.
	If circumstances arose where a prison governor were complicit in prisoners being under the influence or in possession of illegal drugs, the person concerned would be dealt with under the NOMS disciplinary process.

Prisons: Equality

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he intends that his proposed new prison regime will apply equally to male and female prisons.

Jeremy Wright: The review of the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme is ongoing. The purpose of the review is to ensure that the public can be confident that any privileges earned in prison are gained through hard work and good behaviour.
	The review is looking at the application of the scheme in all parts of the prison estate, including in women's prisons. In undertaking the review, due regard will be given to the public sector equality duty. The findings of the review will be set out in due course.

Probation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many probation service staff have been subject to disciplinary action in each year since 2001; and for what reasons;
	(2)  how many probation service staff have been disciplined for drugs offences since 2001.

Jeremy Wright: Information is not available on the number of probation service staff that have been subject to disciplinary action or the reasons for the disciplinary action as this information is not collected centrally.
	As employers in their own right, each of the 35 probation trusts has its own investigation and disciplinary policy and procedure, and the investigation and disciplinary process is a matter for them.

Regulation

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what regulations his Department introduced between 1 June 2012 and 31 January 2013; and at what cost to the public purse.

Helen Grant: The Ministry of Justice has laid no statutory instruments that introduced regulation which have regulatory impact between 1 June 2012 and 31 January 2013.

Sexual Offences: Victim Support Schemes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding his Department provides to victims to support them in testifying in sexual assault cases, by region.

Helen Grant: The data requested is not recorded by either the Ministry of Justice or Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service.
	Rape and sexual violence are devastating crimes and the Government is committed to ensuring that victims and witnesses have access to the support they need. In 2012-13 the MOJ is providing £38 million core funding to Victim Support for the provision of emotional and practical support for all victims and witnesses. This funding includes the provision of a Witness Service in every criminal court in England and Wales. In addition, the Ministry of Justice is providing over £3.2 million funding for rape support services for women and girls over the age of 13 in 2012-13. We will consult on a revised Victims' code this spring. The draft Code is intended to give victims clearer entitlements and to better tailor support services to individual need, including for victims of rape and sexual violence.

Young Offenders: Special Educational Needs

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice who is responsible for the provision of the educational needs of young offenders in the secure youth estate.

Jeremy Wright: Education in public sector young offender institutions is currently commissioned by the Education Funding Agency. In other parts of the secure estate, education is commissioned as part of the overall contract for the establishment by the Youth Justice Board.
	On 14 February, we published plans in Transforming Youth Custody—Putting education at the heart of detention (Cm8564) to ensure that young people in custody are helped back onto the right track through the provision of high quality education.

Young Offenders: Special Educational Needs

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice who assesses the quality of educational provision for young offenders in the secure youth estate.

Jeremy Wright: The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects and reports on education provision in secure children's homes and secure training centres and, working under the general direction of HM Inspectorate of Prisons, in young offender institutions.

Young Offenders: Special Educational Needs

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements are in place for communication and co-operation between his Department and the Department for Education regarding young offenders.

Jeremy Wright: Ministers and officials from our respective Departments maintain close communication and co-operation on matters regarding young offenders, most recently in the preparation of the consultation paper, ‘Transforming Youth Custody—Putting education at the heart of detention’ (Cm8564), published on 14 February.

Young Offenders: Special Educational Needs

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what provision is made for the educational support of young offenders with special educational needs in the secure youth estate.

Jeremy Wright: Education providers in the youth secure estate will screen anyone entering custody who shows signs of having a learning difficulty or disability using tests, such as the Hidden Disabilities Questionnaire developed by Dyslexia Action. This identifies a range of learning difficulties, allowing the education provider to refer the learner for further assessments and to arrange appropriate educational support for the young person. Where a local authority was maintaining a statement of special educational needs for a young person immediately prior to his or her detention, it is required to provide that information so that appropriate special educational provision can be made in custody.
	As part of our consultation on ‘Transforming Youth Custody—Putting education at the heart of detention’ (Cm8564), which runs to 30 April, we are inviting views on how best to meet the needs of young people in custody with special educational needs or learning disabilities.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many officials of her Department are responsible for policy on the creative industries; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport deploys staff flexibly across a range of projects and priorities. Currently, eight full-time staff are deployed on projects that include work on the creative industries, led by a deputy director who is responsible for creative industries as part of a wider portfolio. Press officers and legal advisors also support the work in this area.
	Government support for the creative industries is primarily channelled through the Creative Industries Council which was established as a joint forum between the creative industries and Government to address areas where there are barriers facing the sector. Jointly chaired by the Secretaries of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Nicola Mendelsohn, President of the IPA, the Council focuses on finding practical solutions to issues across the sector.
	The Government is committed to creating the right environment to start and grow a business, making sure that people working in the creative industries have the right managerial and leadership skills to succeed, access to finance to grow their business and a skilled work force to draw upon. In April this year we will add to the tax relief already available for British film, with three new tax reliefs available for high-end TV, video games and animation.

Arts and Cultural Services

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the effect of reductions in the local government budgets for arts and cultural services (a) in general and (b) each region of England;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the effect of recent changes in the local government budget on (a) dance organisations, (b) theatre organisations, (c) visual arts organisations, (d) museums, (e) libraries and archives and (f) music organisations in (i) the UK and (ii) each region of England.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 11 February 2013
	The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has been monitoring the proposed changes in local authority spend on arts and culture. In addition, the Arts Council regularly speaks to local authorities about funding for arts and culture and will continue to do so.

Arts and Cultural Services

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with (a) leaders of councils and (b) cabinet members for arts and cultural services following the written ministerial statement of 19 December 2012, Official Report, columns 103-4WS, on local government finance.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 11 February 2013
	DCMS Ministers have recently discussed local government funding for arts and culture with the Local Government Association. As the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, I am also addressing the Local Government Association's annual culture, tourism and sport conference on 7 March 2013 on growth and the economy.

Arts: Education

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent conversations she has had with the Secretary of State for Education about creative subjects in the (a) English baccalaureate, (b) the English baccalaureate certificate and (c) national curriculum.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 11 February 2013
	Department for Culture, Media and Sport Ministers and officials regularly meet colleagues from the Department for Education to discuss a range of matters.

Battle of Waterloo: Anniversaries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans her Department has for commemorating the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo in 2015.

Edward Vaizey: Planning for the commemoration, in 2015, of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo is being carried out by Waterloo 200, an umbrella organisation which is overseeing the anniversary. More information can be found on its website at the following link:
	www.waterloo200.org

Battle of Waterloo: Anniversaries

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she had with the Scottish Government on the commemoration of the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 12 February 2013
	Planning for the commemoration, in 2015, of the 200(th) anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo is being carried out by Waterloo 200, an umbrella organisation which is overseeing the anniversary. More information can be found on its website at the following link:
	www.waterloo200.org

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if her Department plans to conduct a review of how small and medium-sized enterprises can make better use of broadband.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 5 February 2013
	The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has no plans at present to review the use of broadband by Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), but is working with the Departments for Business, Innovation and Skills and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to deliver the Government's wider support for SMEs. DCMS is also working closely with the Federation of Small Businesses to ensure SMEs recognise the benefits of faster broadband.

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her answer of 5 February 2013, Official Report, column 117W, on broadband, what progress has been made with (a) local authorities, (b) the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, (c) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (d) the Federation of Small Businesses to stimulate broadband take-up by small businesses and encourage innovation through its use.

Edward Vaizey: BDUK has delivered two SME demand stimulation workshops, attended by 34 local broadband projects, to support the development of effective business engagement programmes. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Federation of Small Business and the Go ON UK founding partners attended the workshops and outlined the support they could offer broadband projects to drive strong demand at the local level.
	BDUK has also run a workshop for broadband projects in receipt of, or applying for, ERDF business support funding. 22 local broadband projects attended this workshop and were given presentations from the North Yorkshire and the South West ERDF business support delivery programmes to sharing best practice. The North Yorkshire and South West business support programmes aim to collectively support over 2,000 small businesses to develop digital skills to support economic growth. More businesses will also receive support from the other projects as their business support programmes are implemented.

Broadband: Wales

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with Ministers in the Welsh Government on the timing of the roll-out of superfast broadband beyond 2015.

Edward Vaizey: The Welsh Government is managing a single project to provide broadband coverage in Wales. The Wales project was given state aid clearance by the Broadband Delivery UK State Aid National Competency Centre on 10 December, enabling the project to get under way at the start of this year. The delay in receiving the umbrella state aid clearance from the European Commission last year may mean that the Welsh Government project is unable to complete delivery before the end of 2015. My Department will work closely with the Wales Office and the Welsh Government to identify potential solutions to any delay, and to ensure that implementation of broadband in Wales is able to progress as smoothly as possible. I am delighted that the first cabinets funded by the scheme are already in place.

Broadband: Wales

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with Ministers in the Welsh Government on the criteria used for determining which areas in Wales are prioritised for investment of superfast broadband.

Edward Vaizey: The criteria for determining which areas are prioritised for superfast broadband investment is a matter for the Welsh Government to determine. My Department maintains an oversight of the overall Wales project through representation on the Project Board.

Broadcasting: Equality

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to ensure equality is promoted in the broadcasting industry.

Edward Vaizey: My Department is committed to ensuring that equality is promoted in all of its sectors including the broadcasting industry. However, it is primarily up to the broadcasting industry itself, including broadcasters and producers to promote equality among its employers.
	Public bodies (or organisations carrying out public functions) are required to follow duties set out in the Equality Act 2010 and the Communications Act 2003. In addition to this, the relevant sector skills council, Creative Skillset, monitors through its research programme representation of different groups in the work force in the creative industries for which it has responsibility and alerts those industries to issues that arise from underrepresentation, developing wider industry-led solutions as required.
	In November 2012, my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral West (Esther McVey), chaired a media round table with representatives from the major television channels and a number of production companies, which focused discussions on how Government and broadcasters could work together to increase understanding and positive attitudes towards disability. They are continuing to work together on this to produce long-term relationships.

Buildings

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the (a) total floor space and (b) floor space measured in square metres per full-time equivalent post is of properties used by her Department.

Hugh Robertson: The information is as follows:
	Cockspur Street—NIA 4,201.94 sq m, and there are 289 FTE members of staff giving space per person of 14.53 per sq m.
	Queens Yard—NIA 1,558 sq m, and there are 14 FTE members of staff giving space per person of 111.28 per sq m. The Queen's Yard houses the Government Art Collection and consists of workshops and storage space.
	The Government Equalities Office (GEO) occupies 688.48 sq m in Marsham Street, and there are 104 members of staff giving space per person of 6.62 per sq m.

Buildings

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the names and locations are of all properties used by officials of her Department; whether those properties are (a) owned by the Department, (b) leased by the Department and (c) subject to a private finance initiative agreement; when existing lease agreements relating to such properties are due to expire; and what the total floor space is of each property.

Hugh Robertson: The information is as follows:
	2-4 Cockspur Street, London—Leased—the lease has been surrendered from 31 March 2013. Total space occupied by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is 4,201.94 sq m.
	Queen's Yard, London—Leased—expires April 2014. Total space occupied by DCMS is 1,558 sq m.
	The Government Equalities Office (GEO) rent space in 2 Marsham Street from the Home Office. Space occupied is 688.48 sq m.

Cultural Heritage

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of likely departmental expenditure in the heritage sector in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15, (c) 2015-16 and (d) 2016-17.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The Department has made the following estimates of likely departmental expenditure in the heritage sector:
	(a) 2013-14: £146.83 million
	(b) 2014-15: £133.39 million
	No estimates have been made beyond 2015. In addition to the departmental funding shown above, the heritage sector has access to lottery funding. Current projections are that lottery income, in 2013-14 of £373 million and in 2014-15 of £376 million, will be available to the heritage sector. This means that more than £500 million of funding should be available in each of these two years. The heritage sector also has access to the £100 million Catalyst private giving investment scheme, aimed at helping cultural organisations diversify their income streams and access funding from private sources. The scheme is made up of £30 million of investment from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and lottery funding from Arts Council England. Also available is funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Culture: Higher Education

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she plans to take to encourage greater co-operation between higher education and the culture sector in (a) Liverpool and (b) England and Wales.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 11 February 2013
	The Government, through its arm’s length bodies such as the Arts Council England (ACE), and the wider arts and culture sector, has developed strong working relationships looking at the provision of arts and creative-based subjects in education across all stages.

Mass Media

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  for what reason her meetings with media executives and journalists and those of her predecessor have not been published since June 2012;
	(2)  if she will publish the details of all meetings held between herself and media executives and journalists since September 2012;
	(3)  if she will publish details of all meetings held between her predecessor and media executives and journalists between June 2012 and September 2012;
	(4)  if she will publish details of all meetings held between her special advisers and media executives and journalists since September 2012.

Edward Vaizey: Details of Ministers and special advisers meetings will be published as usual in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance.

Museums and Galleries: Overseas Visitors

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of visits to regional museums and galleries by overseas visitors.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 28 February 2013
	The Department does not hold this information centrally and to collate this information would incur disproportionate cost. However, VisitBritain estimates that Britain's unique culture and heritage attracts £4.5 billion worth of spending by inbound visitors annually, equivalent to more than one quarter of all spending by international visitors.

Nominet

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she took to ensure that the Nominet Consultation was widely advertised in order to receive the views of ordinary business users.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 25 February 2013
	Nominet is recognised by the Government as the registry with responsibility for oversight of the .co.uk top level internet domain. It is a private sector, not for profit, public purpose company. Nominet's day-to-day operations are not subject to regulation by Government.
	Nominet has informed Government of the actions it has undertaken to raise awareness of its consultation process. These include coverage through news articles and other media, hosting a series of public roundtable events and working with member's organisations, for example the British Computer Society, to provide news stories, guest articles and briefings for their members.

Political Parties: Advertising

Angie Bray: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what regulations she or her predecessors have made relating to advertising by political parties during election campaigns; and whether she plans to review those regulations.

Edward Vaizey: Party political election broadcasts are regulated under section 333 of the Communications Act 2003. I have made no further regulations in this area and have no power to do so. I currently have no plans to make changes to the existing provisions in the Communications Act on party political election broadcasts.

Public Libraries

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will undertake a full assessment of the needs of the local population for the services provided by libraries.

Edward Vaizey: Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service that is based on local need within available resources. It is therefore the responsibility of each local authority to determine, through consultation, the local needs and to deliver a modem efficient library service that meets the requirements of their communities. The Government's response to the Select Committee report on Library Closures, published on 29 January, reported that a number of publications have already been produced by ACE and the LGA which provide guidance for authorities to interpret what they consider local circumstances.

Richard III

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the Government plans to hold a state funeral for King Richard III.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 11 February 2013
	We have no such plans. I understand that plans are already under way for a re-interment of the remains of what is believed to be Richard III in Leicester.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff were employed by her Department in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

Hugh Robertson: The number of full-time staff equivalents (FTEs) employed within my Department by pay bands, as disclosed in our Remuneration Report, are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Full-time equivalent staff Number of staff at grade SCS Number of staff at grade A(U) Number of staff at grade A Number of staff at grade B Number of staff at grade C Number of staff at Grade D 
			 2008-09 459.2 38.2 20.6 94.1 170.7 98.1 36.5 
			 2009-10 454.1 45.9 21.3 106.4 157.7 93.7 29.1 
			 2010-11 483.5 46.6 31.2 117.3 169.1 89.4 28.9 
			 2011-12 456.9 40.2 29.9 124.2 172 66.6 23 
			 2012-13(1) 317 32 16 88 109 51 23 
			 (1) Latest data -final figures will be published in the Remuneration Report after the year-end.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will estimate her Department's total staffing requirement in full-time equivalent posts for fulfilling its minimum statutory obligations.

Hugh Robertson: The statutory obligations of the Secretary of State are set out in a wide range of legislation. However, the total staffing numbers involved in fulfilling our statutory obligations are not recorded separately from the costs of wider policy making and delivery across the full range of the Department's responsibilities for Culture, Media, Sport and Equalities.

Television and Computers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment she has made of the number of (a) hours of television watched and (b) hours spent using a computer by (i) adults and (ii) children in the course of a day; and if she will make a statement on the long-term trends in advertising being viewed by UK citizens.

Edward Vaizey: I have made no assessment of these issues or of the long-term advertising trends. Ofcom is responsible for gathering and analysing data on media consumption. In July last year, it published its ninth annual Communications Market report which outlines data about viewing habits among children and adults.

Training

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on training and education for civil servants in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The following table sets out how much the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has spent on training and education for civil servants in 2010-11 and 2011-12 (2008-09 and 2009-10 have been added for context). In looking to make efficiencies and to utilise existing skills held within the Department, DCMS has developed a series of in-house Masterclasses to aid the training and development of staff:
	
		
			  Amount spent on learning and development (£) 
			 200809 603,298.99 
			 2009-10 538,927.71 
			 2010-11 448,738.37 
			 2011-12 296,160.54

Travel

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on (a) the Government Car Service and (b) other taxi or car services for ministerial travel in each year since 2009-10; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport spend on car services for ministerial travel through the Government Car Service is set out as follows.
	
		
			 Department for Culture, Media and Sport 
			  £ 
			 2008-09 243,400.00 
			 1 April 2009-31 March 2010 total 305,397.32 
			 1 April 2010-12 May 2010 total 25,631.37 
			 13 May 2010-31 March 2011 total 65,108.55 
			 2011-12 1,740.81 
		
	
	Details of the costs for 2012-13 will be published in the normal way later this year.
	The following table sets out spending on taxi and other car services.
	
		
			 Ministerial use of taxis and other car services 
			  £ 
			 2008-09 7,450.49 
			 2009-10 5,163.25 
			 2010-11 3,885.72 
			 2011-12 13,234.14 
		
	
	The following table sets out total spending on the Government Car Service, taxis and other car services.
	
		
			 Total spend on Government Car Service, taxis and other car services 
			  £ 
			 2009-10 312,827.81 
			 2010-11 94,625.64 
			 2011-12 14,974.95 
		
	
	Details of the costs for 2012-13 will be published in the normal way later this year.

Voluntary Work

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people volunteered to work in (a) theatres, (b) museums, (c) art galleries and (d) national heritage sites in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10 (iii) 2010-11 and (iv) 2011-12.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 11 February 2013
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 4 February 2013, Official Report, columns 54-56W.

World War I: Anniversaries

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which events her Department (a) have planned and (b) are planning in Scotland to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.

Edward Vaizey: The Prime Minister has announced that there will be national commemorations to mark the opening day of the war on 4 August 2014, the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 2016 and Armistice Day 2018. The precise arrangements have yet to be determined. There are also likely to be events to commemorate the engagements at Gallipoli, Jutland and Third Ypres (Passchendaele), but planning for these is at an early stage. We understand that the Scotland Government will also be organising its own programme of events to commemorate this occasion.

World War I: Anniversaries

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding has been allocated (a) in total and (b) for events in Scotland for centenary commemorations of the First World War.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The first world war centenary commemoration is a United Kingdom programme with £53 million of funded activity across a number of specific projects. There are no allocations by region.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Asbestos

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on how many deaths per million per annum from asbestos exposure are an acceptable risk for (a) adults and (b) children.

Mark Hoban: Asbestos is recognised as capable of causing cancer. Every asbestos related death is a tragedy. Stringent legal requirements in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 for control of work and active management of asbestos in non domestic buildings require that exposure to asbestos is reduced to as low a level as is reasonably practicable.

Children: Maintenance

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the length of time it takes between a payment being made by the Child Support Agency and the payment reaching an individual's bank account;
	(2)  if he will take steps to introduce a system for faster payment of child maintenance payments from the Child Support Agency.

Steve Webb: The vast majority of payments are made using the standard bank automated clearing system (BACS) process which normally takes three days.
	We are able to make payments via the faster payments system, and this is used when hardship would occur if we use the BACS system. This process is more costly to administer due to additional resourcing requirements. In addition, the transaction costs for faster payments are around 35 times more than BACS payments.
	In balancing client service against our responsibility to taxpayers to provide value for money, therefore, we have no plans to increase our use of faster payments. The 2012 scheme, recently introduced on a Pathfinder basis, will further improve client service overall by providing a faster and more effective service.

Community Care Grants: Newham

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many items were awarded in the London Borough of Newham under each category in the community care grant in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12;
	(2)  how much was awarded in the London Borough of Newham under each category of item in the community care grant in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Steve Webb: Information about expenditure on items at local authority level is not available except at disproportionate cost.
	Information at local authority level is not available for 2010-11 except at disproportionate cost.
	The information that is available for Newham is shown in table 1 as follows; this shows the 2011-12 expenditure under each category of the community care grant qualifying conditions.
	
		
			 Table 1: Community care grants—number of awards and spend under each condition in Newham 2011-12 
			 Community care grant condition satisfied Number Spend (£) 
			 Moving out of residential/institution care 180 59,300 
			 Helping people stay in the community 400 253,500 
			 Families under exceptional pressure 600 518,800 
			 Prisoner or young offender on release on temporary license (1)— (2)— 
			 People setting up home as a planned programme of resettlement 60 62,200 
			 Travelling expenses 10 4,000 
		
	
	
		
			 (1) No awards (2) No spend Notes: 1. More information about 2011-12 Community care grant applications in Newham is at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-fund-additional-1112-data.xls 2. The information provided is management information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have management information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, it does not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the social fund computer system. 3 Figures are for applications received, not for the number of people who made an application, and for initial awards made, not the number of people who received an initial award. (Some people made more than one application or received more than one initial award.)

Crisis Loans

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applications for crisis loans have cited the cessation of contributory-based employment and support allowance as a reason for the application since May 2012.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.

Disability Living Allowance: Hyperkinetic Syndrome

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will commission research to assess the potential of parent-infant psychotherapy and other early interventions to reduce the cost of disability living allowance relating to a diagnosis of Hyperkinetic Syndrome.

Esther McVey: The Department of Work and Pensions have no plans to make such an assessment.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) provides advice to the NHS on clinical best practice. NICE published the clinical guideline “Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Diagnosis and management of ADHD in children, young people and adults” in September 2008. The guideline makes recommendations for the diagnosis and management of ADHD in children, young people and adults but does not include recommendations relevant to children aged under three. NICE routinely reviews its published guidance in order to take account of the latest available evidence.

Housing Benefit

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2013, Official Report, column 217W, on housing benefit: Scotland, whether there are any indications that the spread of the 5,000 affected households across the UK will be uneven.

Steve Webb: The information is not available.

Housing Benefit: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) correspondence and (b) meetings the Secretary of State has had with Scottish Government officials or Ministers on the introduction of the size criteria for housing benefit; and if he will place in the Library a record of any such meetings and copies of any such correspondence.

Mark Hoban: There has been no recent correspondence between the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), and Scottish Government Ministers or officials on social sector size criteria. There have been a number of meetings but the size criterion has not been a specific agenda item.

Independent Living Fund

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent by the independent living fund in each local authority area in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13 to date.

Esther McVey: The independent living fund publishes figures on expenditure in local authorities on a quarterly basis. The information the hon. Member has requested can be found at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/ilf/publications/corporatepublications/statistics/index.shtml

Ingeus

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints his Department has received from employers regarding the work provider Ingeus.

Mark Hoban: Work programme providers are required to resolve any complaints about their service. The Department does not therefore collate information on employer complaints due to the contractual arrangements with providers. If the complainant is unhappy with the provider's final response they can escalate the complaint to the independent case examiner.

Ingeus

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints his Department has received from people in receipt of jobseeker's allowance regarding the service provided by Ingeus.

Mark Hoban: All welfare to work providers, including Ingeus, are required to have effective, accessible complaints procedures available to all participants. We require providers to work directly with participants to resolve complaints about their service, with provision for complaints that are not resolved to a participant's satisfaction to be escalated to the independent case examiner. The Department does not therefore hold this information.

Ingeus

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Bassetlaw constituency have been helped into employment by Ingeus since the Work Programme was introduced.

Mark Hoban: Official statistics on Work programme participants who start work is not available.
	Work programme official statistics on job outcomes and sustainment payments are available on the Department's website via:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Ingeus

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many hon. Members have complained to his Department on behalf of a constituent about the Work Programme provider Ingeus to date.

Mark Hoban: To date, the Department has received 15 complaints about Ingeus from Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents.
	The Department will address any policy or process issues raised by MPs. However, if an MP is raising a complaint on behalf of a constituent about their experience whilst participating on the Work programme they are referred to the provider complaints process.

Ingeus

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department had with representatives of Ingeus since the Work Programme was introduced.

Mark Hoban: The information requested can be found at the following link to the Department's website:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/corporate-publications/ministers-meetings-overseas.shtml
	The information for the period 1 October to 31 December is currently being collated and will be published in due course.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his Statement to the Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee on the draft Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations 2013 on 12 February 2013, column 19, that the sanctions notification will be in writing; what sanctions he intends to be covered by this statement; whether these notifications will be posted to jobseekers; and whether he intends to issue guidance about the use of sanction notifications.

Mark Hoban: All sanctions for failing to meet work related requirements will be notified to claimants in writing and will include details of the claimant's rights of reconsideration and appeal. The notification will either be posted to the claimant or handed to them if the circumstances permit. We are currently developing the notifications for the new contributory jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance and universal credit.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobseeker's allowance claimants in Hull have had their benefit sanctioned in each of the last three years; and how many such sanctions have subsequently been overturned.

Mark Hoban: The information is provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of individuals with a jobseeker's allowance (JSA) sanction by decision and year in Kingston upon Hull local authority: 1 January 2010-21 October 2012 
			  Year of decision(1) 
			 Sanction decision 2010 2011 2012 
			 Sanction applied(2) 3,810 3,710 4,080 
			 Overturned following reconsideration(3) 570 700 590 
			 Overturned following appeal(3) — 40 30 
			 (1 )Data is for each calendar year up to 21 October 2012 which is the latest available information. (2) The number of sanctions applied is the number of Varied(4), Fixed Length(5) and Entitlement Decision(6) referrals where there has been an adverse decision. (3) The decision to apply a sanction can be overturned following reconsideration or appeal by the Sector Decision Maker. (4) Varied Length sanctions: A sanction of between 1 week and 26 weeks is imposed for leaving employment voluntarily without just cause, refusing employment without good cause, or losing employment through misconduct. The actual period in each case is at the discretion of the Adjudication Officer who makes the decision. (5) Fixed Length sanctions: A sanction of between 1 week and 26 weeks is imposed for refusal, without good cause, to attend an employment programme or carry out a Jobseeker's direction. (6 )Entitlement Decisions: These are questions on which entitlement to JSA depends. For example, if there is doubt around whether the jobseeker's agreement (JSAg) is suitable, whether they are actively looking for work or making themselves available for work. In most cases payment of JSA will be suspended by benefit processing until the doubt is resolved. Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. "—" denotes nil or negligible. 2. All figures may include individuals who have had more than one sanction decision eg if an individual has a sanction applied and another sanction overturned following appeal then they will appear twice. Source: DWP: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics database.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobseekers' allowance claimants in Preston in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012 had their (i) benefit sanctioned and (ii) sanction overturned.

Mark Hoban: The information is provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of individuals with a jobseeker's allowance (JSA) sanction by decision and year in Preston local authority: 1 January 2010-21 October 2012 
			  Year of decision(1) 
			 Sanction decision 2010 2011 2012 
			 Sanction applied(2) 1,630 1,950 1,860 
			 Overturned following reconsideration(3) 200 300 290 
			 Overturned following appeal(3) 20 10 10 
		
	
	
		
			 (1) Data is for each calendar year up to 21 October 2012 which is the latest available information. (2) The number of sanctions applied is the number of Varied(4), Fixed Length(5) and Entitlement Decision(6) referrals where there has been an adverse decision. (3) The decision to apply a sanction can be overturned following reconsideration or appeal by the Sector Decision Maker. (4) Varied Length sanctions: A sanction of between 1 week and 26 weeks is imposed for leaving employment voluntarily without just cause, refusing employment without good cause, or losing employment through misconduct. The actual period in each case is at the discretion of the Adjudication Officer who makes the decision. (5) Fixed Length sanctions: A sanction of between 1 week and 26 weeks is imposed for refusal, without good cause, to attend an employment programme or carry out a Jobseeker's direction (6) Entitlement Decisions: These are questions on which entitlement to JSA depends. For example, if there is doubt around whether the jobseeker's agreement (JSAg) is suitable, whether they are actively looking for work or making themselves available for work. In most cases payment of JSA will be suspended by benefit processing until the doubt is resolved. Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10."—" denotes nil or negligible. 2. All figures may include individuals who have had more than one sanction decision eg if an individual has a sanction applied and another sanction overturned following appeal then they will appear twice. Source: DWP: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics database.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what procedures are in place within his Department to deal with breaches of the code of conduct by special advisers.

Mark Hoban: Matters relating to special advisers are handled in accordance with the ministerial code, the model contract and code of conduct for special advisers.

Personal Independence Payment

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the total amount NHS trusts in England will pay Atos Healthcare for advice and consultation services for the delivery of personal independence payment assessment contracts.

Esther McVey: NHS Trusts are not paying Atos for any services. Some NHS trusts will be acting as sub-contractors for Atos. DWP have contracted directly with Atos for the PIP assessment service and as such would not seek to have any direct relationship with the Atos sub-contractors. DWP are therefore not privy to any of the contractual arrangements/agreements made between Atos and their sub-contractors.

Personal Independence Payment

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with (a) Bedford Hospital NHS Trust, (b) King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, (c) Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, (d) Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, (e) University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and (f) York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on those trusts becoming supply chain partners of Atos Healthcare for personal independence payment assessments.

Esther McVey: DWP have contracted directly with Atos for the PIP assessment service and therefore would not seek to have any direct relationship with their sub-contractors, such as the NHS Trusts listed. We believe that it is right for Atos to partner with the NHS to offer PIP claimants familiar surroundings for their assessments undertaken by experienced health professionals. The partnership proposed here demonstrated best value for money for the Department and its customers.

Public Expenditure

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with (a) HM Treasury and (b) other Departments on the single funding pot model of regional spending allocation.

Mark Hoban: Since Lord Heseltine published his report ‘No Stone Unturned’ in October 2012, there have been a number of cross-departmental discussions of his recommendations, including the single pot model.
	As announced at the Autumn Statement, the Government will publish a full response in the spring.

Social Security Benefits

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by what methods other than online applications for benefits can be made.

Mark Hoban: In addition to making online applications for benefits, people who are unable, or would find it difficult to use this method, may make a claim by telephone. For those customers whose circumstances preclude claiming either online or by telephone, arrangements can be made for a claim form to be completed.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his plans are for phasing the implementation of the benefit cap; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The benefit cap will be implemented from 15 April 2013 in the London boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Enfield and Haringey. We plan to implement the benefit cap in all other local authorities during the summer and as such all households identified as being appropriate to be capped will, in line with existing plans, have been capped by the end of September 2013.

Social Security Benefits

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit claimants (a) have been referred to each of his Department's work placement schemes by Jobcentre Plus, (b) have been referred to each of his Department's work placement schemes by Work programme providers, (c) have served or are serving a sanction as a result of failing to comply with a requirement to attend his Department's work placement schemes, (d) have appealed against such sanctions, (e) have been successful in their appeals and (f) have been issued with letters of clarification by his Department since the Court of Appeal's ruling in respect of Cait Reilly and Jamieson Wilson.

Mark Hoban: In answer to part (a) the information is as follows:
	
		
			 Number of benefit claimants referred to the Work programme, mandatory work activity and community action programme and the number of benefit claimants that started work experience and sector-based work academies 
			 Work placement scheme Number 
			 Claimants referred  
			 Mandatory Work Activity (May 2011 to August 2012) 68,430 
			 Community Activity Programme 5,140 
			 Work programme (June 2011 to July 2012) 877,880 
			   
			 Claimants started  
			 Work experience (January 2011 to November 2012) 94,460 
			 Sector-based work academies (August 2011 to November 2012) 35,730 
			 Notes: 1. Data relating to work experience and sector-based work academy referrals are not available; the data shows the number of claimants that started on these schemes. 2. Values are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. The numbers refer to the number of claimants referred or started (Official Statistics publishes the number of referrals/starts, i.e. for some schemes there maybe multiple referrals/starts for one claimant). 4. Some claimants may have been referred or started on more than one work placement scheme. 5. Work experience started in January 2011. Sector-based work academies started from 1 August 2011 in England and from 30 January 2012 in Scotland. They are not available in Wales. Some testing took place in Scotland prior to the official launch date and the figures are included in the table. 6. A work experience start is defined as the date the claimant accepted their work experience placement with the employer. This is input by an adviser to the Jobcentre Plus' Labour Market System. 7. A start on sector-based work academy pre-employment training is defined as the first date the claimant attended sector-based work academy pre-employment training. The number of starts was based on the individual claimant level data supplied by further education colleges or training providers and entered by an adviser onto the Jobcentre Plus' Labour Market System. Further education colleges and training providers may submit data on starts some time after the actual event occurred. 8. The Community Action Programme (CAP) was part of a randomised control trial to test support options for the very long term unemployed. A “referral” to CAP is defined as a random allocation to the programme. Randomisation took place 13-15 weeks before claimants started the programme. 9. A referral to Mandatory Work Activity is defined as the date the claimant is referred to the placement, recorded within their adviser interview. This was inputted by the adviser to the Jobcentre Plus' Labour Market System. 10. Between 16 January and 31 March 2012 the Department trail-blazed an extension of Mandatory Work Activity across five Jobcentre Plus districts in London, Wales and the West Midlands. The trailblazer tested how the scheme works for claimants who have received more than one labour-market sanction or disallowance within the last year. Numbers for January 2012 and February 2012 therefore include referrals to the ‘MWA Trailblazer’. 11 .Work programme referrals shown are ‘net’ referrals which do not include rejections, cancellations or referrals to ESA information sessions. 12. Work programme mandatory referrals are classified as referrals to the following customer groups: JSA 18-24, JSA 25+, JSA NEET, JSA Claiming 22 of 24 months, JSA ExIB, ESA (IR) WRAG 3/6 Month Mandatory, ESA (IR) WRAG 3/6 Month Mandatory ExIB and JSA Ex-offender Day 1 Mandation. More detailed information can be found at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/wp-pg-chapter-2.pdf Customer groups are assigned by Jobcentre Plus, on the basis of a claimant's circumstances, and benefit they receive. A small number of claimants appear in an incorrect group caused by the way information is recorded on the administrative system. 13. Statistics on the Derbyshire Mandatory Youth Activity Programme in Derbyshire have not been published. Source: DWP Official Statistics databases 
		
	
	(b) Work programme providers do not refer participants to other DWP work placement schemes, with the exception of sector-based work academies where this is agreed with Jobcentre Plus In addition, the Department does not record statistical information on the number of Work programme participants who have undertaken a work placement.
	In answer to part (c), (d) and (e) the information is as follows:
	
		
			 Number of benefit claimants who received a jobseeker's allowance (JSA) sanction for failing to participate on a work placement scheme, up to and including 21 October 2012 
			 Work placement scheme Claimants with a sanction applied Claimants who appealed against their sanction Claimants whose sanction was overturned on appeal 
			 Work programme 92,110 3,360 810 
			 Sector-based work academy 190 10 — 
			 Community Action Programme 460 — — 
			 Work experience 460 — — 
			 Mandatory Work Activity 9,650 510 150 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are cumulative and rounded to the nearest ten. ‘—’ means nil or negligible. 2. Some claimants may have been sanctioned for failing to participate on more than one scheme. 3. The number of sanctions applied is the number of fixed length sanction referrals where there has been an adverse decision. 4. Figures may include individuals with a sanction applied, who appealed a sanction and who had a sanction overturned for failing to participate in more than one programme. 5. The decision to apply a sanction can be overturned following appeal by the Sector Decision Maker. 6. Fixed length sanctions: A sanction of between one week and 26 weeks is imposed for refusal, without good cause, to attend an employment programme. 7. Since March 2012, sanctions for work experience can only be applied for the reason of ‘gross misconduct’. Source: DWP: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics database. 
		
	
	(f) Around 750,000 claimants have been written to informing them that when they participate in the relevant employment programmes they are taking part in a scheme established by law under the Jobseeker's Allowance (Schemes for Assisting Persons to Obtain Employment) Regulations 2013.

Social Security Benefits: Greater London

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2013, Official Report, column 403W, on social security benefits: Greater London, how many (a) households and (b) individuals will be affected by the benefit cap in (i) Bromley, (ii) Croydon, (iii) Enfield and (iv) Haringey.

Mark Hoban: The following table shows the number of households and individuals we estimate to be affected by the benefit cap in (i) Bromley, (ii) Croydon, (iii) Enfield and (iv) Haringey.
	
		
			 Local authority Households Individuals 
			 Bromley 300 400 
			 Croydon 900 1,100 
			 Enfield 1,900 2,500 
			 Haringey 1,100 1,400 
			 Total 4,300 5,400 
		
	
	The figures presented above are consistent with the impact assessment published on 16 July 2012. The figures in the table assume that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. The Department is identifying and writing to all the households who are likely to be affected by the cap and we are offering advice and support through Jobcentre Plus, including, where appropriate, early access to the Work programme before the cap is introduced in April 2013.

Social Security Benefits: Greater London

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2013, Official Report, column 403W, on social security benefits: Greater London, what criteria were used in deciding that (a) Bromley, (b) Croydon, (c) Enfield and (d) Haringey would implement the benefit cap before other local authorities.

Mark Hoban: Bromley, Croydon, Enfield and Haringey are the local authorities which together enable us to deliver the end-to-end delivery solution in a controlled test that is a realistic preparation for national rollout. These four local authorities have all three of the major LA IT systems and have the required volumes and necessary claimant diversity to make it a realistic preparation for national roll-out.
	The phased approach has to be controlled so that risks are managed and activity targeted. As such it needs to be in one regional area. This provides the right conditions for testing, achieves value for money and allows us to work hand-in-hand across the end-to-end delivery solution with local authority partners.

Social Security Benefits: Greater London

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2013, Official Report, column 403W, on social security benefits: Greater London, what criteria he will use to determine whether the benefit cap has been a success in (a) Bromley, (b) Croydon, (c) Enfield and (d) Haringey before implementing the cap in other local authorities.

Mark Hoban: The phased rollout of the benefit cap will:
	test systems and processes end to end in a controlled live environment
	ensure the supporting products and services for both staff and claimants are effective
	ensure there is a measured approach to rolling out the cap to affected households
	build capacity to learn and respond to issues raised in the initial phase of rollout to inform national rollout.

Social Security Benefits: Terrorism

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration he has given to removing entitlement to benefits from those convicted of terrorism charges.

Mark Hoban: Entitlement to benefits is dependent upon individual circumstances and subject to the normal rules and conditions. For people in prison there is normally no entitlement to benefits.

Unemployment: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young unemployed people his Department has taken on through the Youth Contract.

Mark Hoban: Central Government Departments are ineligible to recruit young unemployed people using the wage incentive elements of the Youth Contract.

Universal Credit: North West

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether Jobcentre Plus or local authority staff will (a) process universal credit claims, (b) process change of circumstances notifications and (c) verify tenancy and other documents in the universal credit pathfinders starting in the North West in April 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: DWP staff will undertake these activities in the universal credit pathfinder.

Universal Credit: North West

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the full information technology for universal credit applications will be available for the pathfinders in the North West by April 2013, or whether some manual processing will initially be required.

Mark Hoban: Claimants will be able to make an online application for universal credit in the pathfinder. Information technology support will also include payment calculation and integration with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs' real time information system for earnings reported by employers. There will also be some manual processes, particularly for reported changes of circumstances after the new claim. We have always said that we would incrementally introduce more information technology support as we roll out universal credit. This incremental approach will allow us prove key elements of the business process and the supporting information technology.

Work Capability Assessment

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on ATOS Work Capability Assessment appeals since April 2012.

Mark Hoban: From 2 April 2012 to 31 January 2013 the cost of appeals related to work capability assessment was £22.1 million for DWP in respect of staff costs for employment support allowance and incapacity benefit reassessment appeals.

Work Programme

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of Work programme providers only provide appointments during school hours.

Mark Hoban: The Department does not specify the appointment system that Work programme providers should operate. Work programme providers have flexibility to offer a personalised approach based on a participant's circumstances to help them back to work.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Communities and Local Government on how local economic partnerships can work more closely with Work Programme providers.

Mark Hoban: The Work programme is designed so that providers have the freedom to develop relationships at a local level. We have had a number of discussions with DCLG on how to ensure that local partners are aware of the opportunities offered by the Work Programme.

Work Programme

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will consider the merits of locating job centre advisors at the premises of Work Programme providers in order to simplify the process of signing on.

Mark Hoban: Jobcentre managers already have the freedom and flexibility to locate advisers on Work programme provider premises to undertake jobsearch reviews. While this has some merit, there are difficulties that generally outweigh the potential benefits.
	However, we are currently testing and evaluating a range of alternative approaches to the existing jobsearch review/signing-on process, including suspended signing and less frequent signing for Work programme participants.

Work Programme: Lone Parents

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's policy is on whether a lone parent is referred for benefit sanctions for missing a Work programme appointment as a result of their caring responsibilities.

Mark Hoban: Sanctions will not be imposed without good reason. If a participant fails to attend an appointment, the provider will first discuss the reasons with the participant and seek practical solutions to any problems that have prevented attendance. It will be for the provider to decide whether or not to refer the circumstances to Jobcentre Plus. All decisions on benefit sanctions are made by Jobcentre Plus decision makers, based on the circumstances of each individual case.

Work Programme: Lone Parents

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of Work programme providers assist lone parents with their childcare arrangements while they are on the Work programme.

Mark Hoban: The Department places a general requirement on providers to deliver services flexibly to suit participants' individual circumstances. That does not include a specific requirement to assist with child care arrangements, and the Department does not hold information on the proportion of providers that may offer such assistance.

HEALTH

Beef: Horse Meat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the announcement of the Food Standards Authority of Ireland's results of 15 January 2013, when the first test for horse DNA was conducted on a UK company's frozen burgers by the Food Standards Agency.

Anna Soubry: The first United Kingdom local authority sampling, following the publication of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland's results, took place on 16 January 2013. Samples were tested for horse and pork DNA, neither of which were detected.

Bexsero

James Wharton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what representations he has received on making Bexsero form of the Meningitis B vaccine universally available on the NHS;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost of making Bexsero form of the Meningitis B vaccine available on the NHS.

Anna Soubry: Since Bexsero received market authorisation by the European Commission on 22 January 2013, the Department has received five representations on making Bexsero vaccine available as part of the national health service immunisation programme. These include correspondence or meeting requests from hon. Members, the Meningitis Research Foundation, the vaccine manufacturer—Novartis, and a member of the public.
	The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert advisory committee to the Government on vaccination is currently evaluating possible meningococcal B vaccination strategies, including their impact on the burden of disease and cost-effectiveness and is anticipated to be in a position to provide the Department with advice later this year.
	The estimated costs of providing Bexsero as part of a national immunisation programme would depend on JCVTs advice and the price negotiated with the vaccine manufacturer.

Cancer

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role strategic clinical networks will have in the commissioning of specialised cancer services.

Anna Soubry: Strategic clinical networks will bring together all commissioners and providers in the new health system to plan pathways of care which deliver the best outcomes for patients.
	As most cancer treatment is 'specialised', and will therefore be commissioned by the NHS Commissioning Board's specialised commissioning teams in future, strategic clinical networks will need to develop close links with these teams. An example of this will be the involvement of senior cancer specialists on the clinical reference groups that advise on clinical service specifications.

Cancer

Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people in each strategic health authority area who have received treatment attributable to the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Norman Lamb: Information on the number of patients who have had cancer drugs funded by strategic health authorities (SHAs) under the interim cancer drugs funding arrangements in 2010-11 (from October 2010 to the end of March 2011) and under the Cancer Drugs Fund (from April 2011 to the end of December 2012) is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Strategic health authority Number of patients funded 2010-11 Number of patients funded in 2011-12 Number of patients funded from April 2012 to end December 2012 Total number of patients funded since October 2010(1) 
			 North East 420 696 367 1,483 
			 North West 266 1,044 1,328 2,638 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 178 809 1,096 2,083 
			 East Midlands 178 871 740 1,789 
			 West Midlands 292 1,658 1,152 3,102 
			 East of England 246 1,486 1,258 2,990 
			 London 443 1,364 1,272 3,079 
			 South East Coast 306 1,241 1,060 2,607 
			 South Central 290 1,170 1,989 3,449 
			 South West 161 1,459 1,864 3,484 
			 Total 2,780 11,798 12,126 26,704 
			 Note: (1) Some individual patients may be double-counted where a patient has received more than one drug treatment through the Cancer Drugs Fund. Source: Information provided to the Department by SHAs

Cardiovascular System: Diseases

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (a) what progress he has made in developing the Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy and (b) when he expects this strategy to be published.

Anna Soubry: The cardiovascular disease outcomes strategy is now reaching the final stages of development. The aim is to publish the strategy by the end of March 2013.

Childbirth

Aidan Burley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to (a) raise awareness of the problems associated with premature births and (b) ensure that families of premature babies receive the best possible medical and emotional support from NHS services.

Daniel Poulter: Information for parents about preterm birth and caring for preterm babies is available on the NHS Choices website. NHS Choices also provides links to sources of further information and support, such as Bliss (the sick and premature baby charity). The Department has supported the work of Bliss for many years through grant aid, including projects to promote family centred care.
	It is for the national health service to ensure preterm babies and their families receive high quality neonatal care and support. To support NHS commissioners and providers, two evidence based guidance documents—the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) “Quality Standard for specialist neonatal care and the NHS Toolkit for High Quality Neonatal Services”—have been published.
	The Department has also asked NICE to develop a clinical guideline on the care of pregnant women considered to be at risk of preterm labour and birth. NICE published the draft scope of the guideline for consultation on 20 February 2013. The consultation period closes on 20 March.
	In addition, the NHS Commissioning Board published a draft service specification for neonatal care services in December 2012, which reinforces the importance of delivering care in a family-centred way that seeks to minimise any adverse physical and psychological impact of neonatal care on the baby and their family.

Continuing Care

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the insurance industry on the provision of insurance policies to fund continuing care for the elderly.

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the insurance industry on the provision of products to pay for social care up to the proposed funding cap; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The Department ran an engagement in autumn 2011 on the role for financial services in helping people pay for their care. The engagement was run in partnership with the Association of British Insurers and involved many of its members. The engagement fed back to departmental Ministers in November 2011.
	The engagement was supportive of a cap on social care costs on the basis this would protect people from very high care costs while allowing people to use products such as insurance, pensions and equity release to pay for their care.
	Departmental officials maintain contact with the financial services and the care sector on a range of social care issues including how care is funded. The most recent meeting was held on 13 February to discuss the Government's proposals to introduce a capped cost system, as set out in an oral statement to Parliament on 11 February 2013, Official Report, columns 592-94W. The Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), and I attended this meeting.

Continuing Care

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to his statement of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 592, on social care funding, what estimate he has made of the total cost of his proposals for continuing care for the elderly; and how he intends these proposals to be funded.

Norman Lamb: The estimated costs and how they will be funded were set out in an oral statement to Parliament on 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 592, by the Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt). Further details are available in the policy statement on funding reform and legislative requirements, a copy of which has been placed in the Library and is available on the Department's website at:
	https://www.wp.dh.gov.uk/caringforourfuture/files/2013/02/Policy-statement-on-funding-reform.pdf

Domestic Visits

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) hospitals and (b) GPs' surgeries he has visited in an official capacity in (i) England and (ii) the North East since his appointment as Secretary of State.

Daniel Poulter: The following information provides details of the visits undertaken by the Secretary of State for Health and his ministerial team in an official capacity between September 2012 and February 2013:
	
		
			 The Secretary of State (Mr Jeremy Hunt) 
			 (1) GP Surgeries 
			 Date Minister Visit Type of organisation Location 
			 18 October 2012 Mr Jeremy Hunt Adelaide Medical Centre GP Surgery London 
		
	
	
		
			 (2) Hospitals 
			 Date Minister Visit Type of organisation Location 
			 13 September 2012 Mr Jeremy Hunt St Thomas' Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London Hospital London 
			 11 October 2012 Mr Jeremy Hunt Royal Marsden (Fulham site) AHPF Hospital Fulham, London 
			 13 November 2012 Mr Jeremy Hunt Kings College Hospital Hospital London 
			 5 December 2012 Mr Jeremy Hunt University Hospital South Manchester Hospital Manchester, North West 
			 18 October 2012 Mr Jeremy Hunt University College Hospital, Macmillan Cancer Centre, Hospital London 
			 11 December 2012 Mr Jeremy Hunt Chemo Day Unit, Guy's Hospital Hospital Southwark, London 
			 13 December 2012 Mr Jeremy Hunt Mid Staffordshire Hospital Hospital Stafford, London 
			 11 January 2013 Mr Jeremy Hunt Royal Surrey County Hospital Hospital Guildford, South East 
			 28 January 2013 Mr Jeremy Hunt Airedale Hospital Hospital Yorkshire and Humber 
		
	
	
		
			 Minister of State (Norman Lamb) 
			 Date Minister Visit Type of organisation Location 
			 13 November 2012 Norman Lamb Raid Birmingham Heartlands Hospital Hospital Birmingham, Midlands and East 
			 19 November 2012 Norman Lamb South London and Maudsley NHS Mental Health Trust Hospital London 
			 25 January 2013 Norman Lamb Palliative Care Unit at James Paget Hospital FT Hospital Norfolk, Midlands and East 
		
	
	
		
			 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Anna Soubry) 
			 Date Minister Visit Type of organisation Location 
			 12 September 2012 Anna Soubry Watford General Hospital Hospital Watford, London 
		
	
	
		
			 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Dr Daniel Poulter) 
			 (1) GP surgeries 
			 Date Minister Visit Type of organisation Location 
			 13 November 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter Heysham Primary care centre GP Practices, Dental Surgery, Pharmacy Heysham, North West 
			 13 November 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter Morecambe Same Day centre GP Practice (Health centre) Morecambe, North West 
		
	
	
		
			 (2) Hospitals 
			 Date Minister Visit Type of organisation Location 
			 18 September 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter Bart's Health—Newham University Hospital Hospital London 
			 18 October 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter Darlington Memorial Hospital Hospital Darlington, North East 
			 22 October 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter Royal Marsden (Fulham site) AHPF Hospital Fulham, London 
			 25 October 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital Hospital Manchester, North West 
			 25 October 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter St Mary's Hospital Hospital Manchester, North West 
			 1 November 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter Airedale Hospital Hospital Keighley, Yorks and the Humber 
			 1 November 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter Peterborough City Hospital Hospital Peterborough, Midlands and East 
			 6 November 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter Birmingham Children's Hospital Hospital Birmingham, West Midlands 
			 13 December 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter Visit to Blackpool Teaching Hospital Hospital Blackpool, North West 
			 20 December 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter Homerton Hospital Hospital Hackney, London 
			 25 December 2012 Dr Daniel Poulter Ipswich Hospital Hospital Ipswich, East of England 
			 17 January 2013 Dr Daniel Poulter Jessop Maternity Hospital at Sheffield Teaching Hospital FT Hospital Sheffield, Yorks and the Humber 
			 17 January 2013 Dr Daniel Poulter. Sheffield Children's Hospital FT Hospital Sheffield, Yorks and the Humber 
			 24 January 2013 Dr Daniel Poulter University Hospital Coventry Hospital Coventry, West Midlands 
			 13 February 2013 Dr Daniel Poulter Evelina's Children’s Hospital, St Thomas Hospital London 
		
	
	
		
			 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Earl Howe) 
			 (1) GP Practices 
			 Date Minister Visit Type of organisation Location 
			 23 November 2012 Earl Howe Boulevard Medical Practice GP Practice Halifax, Yorkshire and Humber 
			 23 November 2012 Earl Howe Grange Group Practice GP Practice Huddersfield, Yorkshire and Humber 
		
	
	
		
			 (2) Hospitals 
			 Date Minister Visit Type of organisation Location 
			 26 September 2012 Earl Howe Birmingham University Hospital Hospital Birmingham, Midlands and East 
			 14 December 2012 Earl Howe Amersham Hospital Hospital Amersham, South Central

Heart Diseases

Edward Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will publish or place in the Library the self-assessment reports, attachments and appendices that were submitted in spring 2010 to the National Specialised Commissioning Team by the 11 hospital trusts that wished to be considered as future providers of children's cardiac surgery; which such documents were considered by the Independent Expert Panel chaired by Professor Sir Ian Kennedy; and by which members of that panel;
	(2)  which individuals at each of the 11 hospital trusts which were being considered as future providers of children's cardiac surgery had access before 1 July 2012 to the detailed sub-scores for each assessment criterion that were awarded in 2010 by the Independent Expert Panel chaired by Professor Sir Ian Kennedy; and on what dates each such individual was given access to that information.

Anna Soubry: The safe and sustainable review of children's congenital heart services was a national health service review, independent of Government. The matters raised, therefore, are for the Joint Committee of primary care trusts, which undertook the review.
	In these circumstances, and given legal proceedings and a review by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel are underway, it would not be appropriate to comment further.

Horses: Slaughterhouses

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total number of animals of each species slaughtered at each UK abattoir licensed to slaughter horses was in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: We are advised by the Food Standards Agency that the number of animals slaughtered at approved meat establishments is commercially sensitive information. We are therefore unable to provide figures for the total number of animals of each species slaughtered at each United Kingdom abattoir approved for the slaughter of solipeds (horses).
	The following table lists each of the slaughterhouses in the United Kingdom that is approved, for the slaughter of solipeds (horses and other domestic equines) and the additional species that each is approved to slaughter.
	
		
			 Approval number Approval name Approved species 
			 2295 Bowood Farms Ltd T/A Bowood Yorkshire Lamb (formally Yorkshire County Meats - 2238) Calves, Cattle, Goats, Sheep, Solipeds 
			 4140 G and GB Hewitt Ltd Calves, Cattle, Goats, Pigs, Sheep, Solipeds 
			 4185 High Peak Meat Exports Ltd Calves, Cattle, Solipeds 
			 8231 Stillmans (Somerset) Ltd Buffalo, Calves, Cattle, Deer, Goats, Pigs, Ruminants, Sheep, Solipeds, Wild Boar 
			 8070 Philip Hayman (T/A PJ Hayman and Sons) Buffalo, Calves, Cattle, Deer, Goats, Pigs, Ruminants, Sheep Solipeds 
			 2163 - approval currently suspended Peter Boddy (T/A Peter Boddy Licensed Slaughterers and Game Dealers) Bison, Buffalo, Calves, Cattle, Deer, Farmed Land Mammals not Domestic Ungulates, Goats, Pigs, Ratites, Sheep, Solipeds, Wild Boar 
			 UK 9080 EC - has ceased to slaughter horses and have surrendered their approval to slaughter horses. Oakdale Meats (NI) Ltd Bovine, Ovine, Caprine

Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to reduce the number of deaths after surgery in Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust.

Anna Soubry: All patients have a right to expect the very highest quality, safe care from the national health service. We expect all NHS trusts to examine their mortality data carefully and take appropriate action to improve performance where needed.
	Information on steps taken by the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust to improve mortality rates can be requested from the trust directly.
	The Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is not part of the recently announced review of hospitals with high mortality rates.

Maternity Services: Asylum

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the UK Border Agency on facilitating access to maternity care for women in receipt of asylum support; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: No such discussions have taken place between the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt, and the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA), but there is regular contact at official level to discuss the asylum process and health issues including pregnancy. Women seeking asylum are fully entitled to national health service care without charge, as are UKBA supported women who have been refused asylum. In addition the Department of Health provides funding of approximately £1 million per year to provide health assessments and tuberculosis screening of asylum seekers in UKBA initial accommodation in England. The initial accommodation health teams work with local maternity services to ensure pregnant women receive the necessary maternity treatment while in initial accommodation and will liaise with the NHS, UKBA and their contractors during the dispersal process.

Phenylbutazone

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people at each (a) gender and (b) age have been admitted to hospital with conditions related to phenylbutazone in each region in the latest period for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: The Department does not collect these data. Data standards advise that without knowing what conditions to search for they cannot supply any coding advice as generally speaking Hospital Episode Statistics do not identify specific chemicals.
	However, reports of 'suspected' adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Commission for Human Medicines through the voluntary reporting scheme, the Yellow Card Scheme. The MHRA has received a total of 1,713 suspected ADR reports associated with phenylbutazone United Kingdom-wide, 1964—present. Following advice from the Committee on Safety of Medicines in 1983, the indications for phenylbutazone products were restricted and supply was restricted to hospitals only. The majority of the ADRs were therefore reported prior to restriction of use in 1983. It is not possible to say how many of those cases were admitted to hospital. Only five cases have been received in the last 10 years and of these, only one ADR stated the patient was hospitalised.

Phenylbutazone

Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what level the Food Standards Agency recommends as a safe limit for human consumption of phenylbutazone.

Anna Soubry: Phenylbutazone can cause aplastic anaemia in humans but there is not a clear link between the amount consumed and the subsequent risk of the disease. As such it has not been possible to identify a safe limit and therefore phenylbutazone is not permitted for use in food producing animals. However, it can be prescribed for humans in severe cases of one specific condition (ankylosing spondylitis) where other treatments have been found unsuitable.

EDUCATION

Buildings

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what occupation costs of each type are incurred for each property used by his Department.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education and its Executive agencies currently occupy 12 properties which are listed in the following table:
	
		
			 Property Cost per annum (c £ million) 
			 Sanctuary Buildings, Central London 19.0 
			 33 Greycoat Street, Central London 1.1 
			 Bridge House, Guildford 0.2 
			 Freshford House, Bristol 0.15 
			 Earlsdon Park, Coventry 2.9 
			 Castleview House, Runcorn 1.4 
			 2 St Pauls Place, Sheffield 1.5 
			 Piccadilly Gate, Manchester 2.2 
			 Lime House, Nottingham 0.75 
			 National College for School Leadership, Nottingham 1.2 
			 Unit 1-3 Trust Court, Histon 0.25 
			 Mowden Hall, Darlington 2.2 
		
	
	The costs set out in the table include, rent, building service charges (where applicable), rates, utilities and building maintenance and operating costs.
	The Department for Education Review, published in November 2012 sets out the Department's intention to consolidate its office estate from 12 buildings to six. Final decision on which buildings will close are expected in April 2013 and until this time we will not be able to confirm whether any properties will become vacant.
	Since May 2010 the Department has reduced the size of its estates from 30 properties, at a cost of circa £51 million per annum, to 12 properties costing circa £34 million per annum. This is a saving of circa £17 million per annum. The Department's current estate strategy includes further consolidation, reducing the size of the estate to 6 properties.
	When the Department becomes responsible for a vacant leasehold property every effort is made to reduce the financial liability to the Department as quickly as possible. Where there is a lease break clause in the terms of the lease this would be operated. For leases without such a clause the Department is responsible for the property until lease expiry. As a matter of course the landlord would be contacted to explore the possibility of an early surrender however they are under no obligation to agree to this. Once these options have been exhausted the property would be marketed with a view to finding sub-tenants and reducing the Department's financial liability that way.

Children: ICT

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent estimate he has made of the number of hours children spend on a computer (a) in and (b) out of school per week.

Elizabeth Truss: The most recent estimate of the number of hours children spend on a computer in and out of school per week was by Ofcom.
	The latest Ofcom survey on the media use and attitudes of children and parents was carried out in March 2012 with 1,717 in-home interviews with parents and children aged five-15. The survey asked parents of children aged five-11 and children aged 12-15 about internet use at home, and not computer use per se. It estimated that in 2012, 11.5% of children aged five-15 used the internet at home weekly. There were differences by age group, with only 6% of children aged five-seven using the internet weekly, compared to 8.1% of children aged eight-11 and 17.1% of children aged 12-15 (Ofcom, 2012).
	References
	Eynon, R. (2009) Harnessing technology: the learner and their context. Mapping young people's uses of technology in their own contexts—a nationally representative survey. University of Oxford.
	Ofcom (2012) Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report. October 2012:
	http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/media-literacy/oct2012/main.pdf

Children's Centres: Kingston upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many Sure Start children's centres closed in (a) Hull and (b) Kingston upon Hull North constituency in each of the last three years.

Elizabeth Truss: Information supplied by Kingston upon Hull city council on the Sure Start-On database shows that there have been no outright children's centre closures in Hull since April 2010. Following consultation in 2011 the council conducted a reorganisation in which the previous 20 children's centres merged to form the present 10.
	A reduction from 20 to 10 centres does not mean a halving in the number of places families can go to in order to get children's centre services. There were originally 20 centres across 22 sites. The council has confirmed that 22 sites remain open to the public.
	The Department does not hold information about children's centres on a constituency basis.

Curriculum

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will incorporate the UK Youth Parliament's Curriculum for Life programme into the National Curriculum.

Elizabeth Truss: Our proposals for the new National Curriculum were published for consultation on 7 February. The proposals are based on the principle that the National Curriculum should set out a body of essential knowledge that children should be expected to acquire in key subjects during the course of their school career. One of these key subjects is citizenship in secondary schools, which would cover many of the aspects of the curriculum highlighted as important by the UK Youth Parliament and in particular will include the teaching of financial literacy for the first time.
	The proposed new National Curriculum is deliberately slimmer than the existing one in order to free up teachers to create lessons that inspire and engage their pupils. Schools are free to teach any topic suggested by the UK Youth Parliament if they wish to do so.
	The consultation will end on 16 April. Further information is available at:
	www.education.gov.uk/nationalcurriculum

Cycling

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  who his Department's cycling champion is;
	(2)  what progress his Department has made on implementing the Cycle to Work guarantee;
	(3)  whether his Department has signed up to the Government's Cycle to Work scheme.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department does not have one named cycling champion. Work to encourage staff to cycle is managed across a range of corporate services leads to ensure that both the Department's facilities and its payroll support staff who wish to cycle.
	The Department has not signed up to the Cycle to Work Guarantee, but it has the following in place to support the use of cycling:
	Secure, safe, and accessible bike parking facilities for all staff who want them at 10 out of its 11 sites.
	Good quality changing and locker facilities for all staff who want them at eight out of its 11 sites, with some more limited availability of either showers or lockers at two further sites.
	The availability of salary advances for bike purchases, with advances recovered over a 12-month period.

Education Act 2002

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has made any order under the provisions of section 2 of the Education Act 2002 in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 25 February 2013
	In the period between 2010-11 and 2011-12, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), made the following five orders under section 2(1) of the Education Act 2002:
	1. The New Woodlands School (Amendment) Order 2010 [2010/2196] (in effect until 30 September 2013);
	2. The Harbour School (Amendment) Order 2010 [2010/2804] (in effect until 16 December 2013);
	3. The Morpeth School, Oaklands School and Swanlea School Order 2011 [2011/1903] (ceased to have effect from 31 August 2012);
	4. The Conisborough College Order 2011 [2011/1449] (in effect until 5 July 2014); and
	5. The Wiltshire Council (Arrangements for the Provision of Suitable Education) Order 2012 [2012/1107] (in effect until 31 July 2014).

First Aid: Education

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has any plans to include the teaching of CPR in schools.

Elizabeth Truss: Personal, Social, Health and Economic education can provide for pupils to be taught about emergency life-saving skills.
	At primary level pupils can learn basic emergency procedures and where to get help. At secondary school, they can develop the skills to cope with emergency situations that require basic first aid procedures, including, at Key Stage 4, resuscitation techniques.

Food: Waste

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much surplus food was thrown away by his Department in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education does not throw away surplus food. Any food waste that is generated is a by-product of meal preparation and food consumption, such as vegetable peelings and plate scrapings. All food waste is then separated and sent to a waste treatment facility to produce energy from waste.

Means-tested Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what cash and non-cash means-tested benefits are provided by his Department; what the rules are in respect of means-testing for each such benefit; and how much his Department spent on each in 2011-12.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The Department does not provide any cash or means tested benefits for its staff.

Ministers' Private Offices

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the floor area is of his private ministerial office.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 11 February 2013
	The total floor area for the private office of the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), measures 159m(2). This includes his office and the area of his private office team.

Official Residences

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on how many occasions he has attended Chevening and Dorneywood in an official capacity in each of the last 12 months.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 7 February 2013
	In the last 12 months, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has not visited Chevening, or Dorneywood, in an official capacity.

Ofsted

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  which organisation collects data on forced redundancies of Ofsted inspectors; for what reasons Ofsted inspectors can currently be made redundant; and how many Ofsted inspectors have been subject to forced redundancy in each region of the UK in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  what information (a) his Department and (b) Ofsted holds on the (i) background, (ii) qualifications and (iii) teaching performance of Ofsted inspectors; whether the information in each category is held centrally or regionally; and in respect of which years this information is held.

David Laws: The Department does not hold information on Ofsted inspectors. The remainder of the question is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to my hon. Friend, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Letter from Sir Michael Wilshaw, dated 18 February 2013
	Your recent Parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for response.
	Ofsted directly employs Her Majesty's Inspectors (HMI) and Social Care Regulatory Inspectors (SCRI), but also holds contracts with Inspection Service Providers (ISPs) who themselves employ Additional Inspectors (AI). There have been no forced redundancies of Ofsted's directly employed inspectors during the last ten years. Ofsted would hold data if there was any such instance of forced redundancy amongst HMI or SCRI, the circumstances of which would be in line with Cabinet Office guidelines and protocols on compulsory redundancy.
	Terms of employment for AIs are determined by the ISPs.
	Last month, Ofsted published pen portraits of all current HMI. They give a biographical summary of individuals' expertise, including their previous experience and qualifications. The relevant document is available on the Ofsted website at:
	http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/ofsted-hmi-pen-portraits
	All inspectors undertaking section 5 school inspections are required to have a teaching qualification, and to have been teachers. This includes those qualified to teach in the 14-19 age range. Furthermore, as part of the recruitment and selection process, candidates are required to demonstrate success and effectiveness in their teaching career.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to David Laws MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

Regulation

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many regulations his Department introduced between 1 June 2012 and 31 January 2013; and what the anticipated cost is of each.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 25 February 2013
	In the period 1 June 2012 to 31 January 2013, the Department for Education made 36 regulations and orders (statutory instruments). In some cases, the effect of a particular statutory instrument would be sufficient to warrant an impact assessment (in line with the rules set out by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills). The impact assessment would include the cost to the frontline of implementing the regulation. Where an impact assessment has been produced, this would be indicated in the Explanatory Memorandum accompanying the regulation and available at:
	www.legislation.gov.uk

School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 478W, on School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012, what steps he is taking to ensure that primary schools comply with the requirement to publish on their website (a) the proportion of Year 6 pupils who achieve level 4 or above in English and mathematics, (b) the proportion of Year 6 pupils who are making expected progress, (c) the proportion of Year 6 pupils who achieve level 5 or above in English and (d) the proportion of Year 6 pupils who achieve level or above in mathematics in their Key Stage 2 national curriculum tests.

David Laws: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The amended regulations removed the requirement for schools to produce a hard copy prospectus each year and instead require schools to publish certain information online. For schools which have Year 6 pupils, this includes information about in the attainment and progress of pupils who have most recently taken Key Stage 2 tests.
	The Department notified schools in a number of ways about the changes made to these regulations which came into force in September 2012. This has included notifying schools through several of the termly departmental Need to Know e-mails to all schools (before and after the changes came into force), publishing and updating information on the departmental website and working to communicate the changes through partners like the National Governors Association. Her Majesty's chief inspector has also recently written to all schools and in doing so has reminded schools of their obligations to make key information available online.
	Governing bodies and head teachers have clear responsibilities to ensure that their school adheres to the law. If a parent believes that a school is not complying with the requirements they are entitled to raise this with the governing body. If their complaint is not resolved and they believe that the school has failed to discharge its duty or acted unreasonably, they can raise their complaint with the Secretary of State for Education. Any such a complaint would be handled as set out in the Department's published school complaints process.

School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 478W, on School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012, what steps he is taking to ensure that secondary schools comply with the requirement to publish on their website (a) the proportion of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and mathematics GCSEs, (b) the proportion of pupils achieving the English Baccalaureate and (c) the proportion of pupils making expected progress.

David Laws: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The amended regulations removed the requirement for schools to produce a hard copy prospectus each year and instead require schools to publish certain information online. For secondary schools this includes information about pupil attainment and progress.
	The Department notified schools in a number of ways about the changes made to these regulations which came into force in September 2012. This has included notifying schools through several of the termly departmental "Need to Know" e-mails to all schools (before and after the changes came into force), publishing and updating information on the departmental website and working to communicate the changes through partners like the National Governors Association. Her Majesty's chief inspector has also recently written to all schools and in doing so has reminded schools of their obligations to make key information available online.
	Governing bodies and head teachers have clear responsibilities to ensure that their school adheres to the law. If a parent believes that a school is not complying with the requirements they are entitled to raise this with the governing body. If their complaint is not resolved and they believe that the school has failed to discharge its duty or acted unreasonably, they can raise their complaint with the Secretary of State for Education. Any such a complaint would be handled as set out in the Department's published school complaints process.

School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 478W, on School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012, what steps he is taking to ensure that primary schools comply with the requirement to publish on their website (a) in relation to each academic year, the content of the curriculum followed by the school for each subject and details as to how additional information relating to the curriculum may be obtained and (b) in relation to key stage 1, the names of any phonics or reading schemes in operation.

David Laws: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The amended regulations removed the requirement for schools to produce a hard copy prospectus each year and instead require schools to publish certain information online—this includes information about the content of the curriculum and for schools which have children in key stage 1 the names of any phonics or reading schemes they use. These changes give schools both increased scope to decide the information they wish to publish and greater flexibility as to how regularly they update it.
	The Department notified schools in a number of ways about the changes made to these regulations which came into force in September 2012. This has included notifying schools through several of the termly departmental Need to Know emails to all schools (before and after the changes came into force), publishing and updating information on the departmental website and working to communicate the changes through partners like the National Governors Association.
	Governing bodies and head teachers have clear responsibilities to ensure that their school adheres to the law. It is important that parents have information about the school's curriculum and, if a parent believes that a school is not complying with the requirements they are entitled to raise this with the governing body. If their complaint is not resolved and they believe that the school has failed to discharge its duty or acted unreasonably, they can raise their complaint with the Secretary of State. Any such a complaint would be handled as set out in the Department's published school complaints process.
	Her Majesty's Chief Inspector has also recently written to all schools and in doing so has reminded schools of their obligations to make key information available online, including about the curriculum.

School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 478W, on School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012, what steps he is taking to ensure that primary schools comply with the requirement to publish on their website the measures determined by the head teacher under section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

David Laws: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The amended regulations removed the requirement for schools to produce a hard copy prospectus each year and instead require schools to publish certain information online. For primary schools this includes information about the measures head teachers set out in the behaviour policy. Under section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, the head teacher must include measures in the policy which aim to promote good behaviour, self-discipline and respect; prevent bullying; ensure that pupils complete assigned work; and regulate the conduct of pupils. These changes give schools both increased scope to decide the information they wish to publish and greater flexibility as to how regularly they update it.
	The Department notified schools in a number of ways about the changes made to these regulations which came into force in September 2012. This has included notifying schools through several of the termly departmental Need to Know emails to all schools (before and after the changes came into force), publishing and updating information on the departmental website and working to communicate the changes through partners like the National Governors Association. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector has also recently written to all schools and in doing so has reminded schools of their obligations to make key information available online.
	Governing bodies and head teachers have clear responsibilities to ensure that their school adheres to the law. If a parent believes that a school is not complying with the requirements they are entitled to raise this with the governing body. If their complaint is not resolved and they believe that the school has failed to discharge its duty or acted unreasonably, they can raise their complaint with the Secretary of State. Any such a complaint would be handled as set out in the Department's published school complaints process.

School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 478W, on School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012, what steps he is taking to ensure that secondary schools comply with the requirement to publish on their website the measures determined by the head teacher under section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

David Laws: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The amended regulations removed the requirement for schools to produce a hard copy prospectus each year and instead require schools to publish certain information online. For secondary schools this includes information about the measures head teachers set out in the behaviour policy. Under section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, the head teacher must include measures in the policy which aim to promote good behaviour, self-discipline and respect; prevent bullying; ensure that pupils complete assigned work; and regulate the conduct of pupils.
	These changes give schools both increased scope to decide the information they wish to publish and greater flexibility as to how regularly they update it.
	The Department notified schools in a number of ways about the changes made to these regulations which came into force in September 2012. This has included notifying schools through several of the termly departmental Need to Know e-mails to all schools (before and after the changes came into force), publishing and updating information on the departmental website and working to communicate the changes through organisations like the National Governors Association. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector has also recently written to all schools and in doing so has reminded schools of their obligations to make key information available online.
	Governing Bodies and Head teachers have clear responsibilities to ensure that their school adheres to the law. If a parent believes that a school is not complying with the requirements they are entitled to raise this with the Governing Body. If their complaint is not resolved and they believe that the school has failed to discharge its duty or acted unreasonably, they can raise their complaint with the Secretary of State. Any such a complaint would be handled as set out in the Department's published school complaints process.

School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 478W, on School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012, if he will take steps to ensure that secondary schools comply with the requirements in Schedule 4, Paragraph 7 of the amended School Information (England) Regulations 2008 to publish on their website (a) in relation to each academic year, the content of the curriculum followed by the school for each subject and details as to how additional information relating to the curriculum may be obtained and (b) in relation to key stage 4 a list of the courses provided which lead to a GCSE qualification and a list of other courses offered at key stage 4 and the qualifications that may be acquired.

David Laws: The amended regulations removed the requirement for schools to produce a hard copy prospectus each year and instead require schools to publish certain information online. For secondary schools this includes information about content of the curriculum and courses leading to qualifications at Key Stage 4.
	The Department notified schools in a number of ways about the changes made to these regulations which came into force in September 2012. This has included notifying schools through several of the termly departmental “Need to Know” e-mails to all schools (before and after the changes came into force), publishing and updating information on the departmental website and working to communicate the changes through partners like the National Governors Association. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector has also recently written to all schools and in doing so has reminded schools of their obligations to make key information available online, including about the curriculum.
	Governing Bodies and Head teachers have clear responsibilities to ensure that their school adheres to the law. If a parent believes that a school is not complying with the requirements they are entitled to raise this with the Governing Body. If their complaint is not resolved and they believe that the school has failed to discharge its duty or acted unreasonably, they can raise their complaint with the Secretary of State. Any such a complaint would be handled as set out in the Department's published school complaints process.

School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 478W, on School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012, if he will take steps to ensure that secondary schools comply with the requirements in Schedule 4, Paragraph 7 of the amended School Information (England) Regulations 2008 to publish on their website information on where and by what means parents may access the school performance tables published by the Secretary of State on his Department's website.

David Laws: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The amended regulations removed the requirement for schools to produce a hard copy prospectus each year and instead require schools to publish certain information online. For secondary schools the performance data they are required to publish relates to attainment and progress of pupils at the end of KS4, accompanied by a link to the school's entry on the Performance Tables website.
	The Department notified schools in a number of ways about the changes made to these regulations which came into force in September 2012. This has included notifying schools through several of the termly departmental “Need to Know” e-mails to all schools (before and after the changes came into force), publishing and updating information on the departmental website and working to communicate the changes through partners like the National Governors Association. Her Majesty's chief inspector has also recently written to all schools and, in doing so, has reminded schools of their obligation to make key information available online.
	Governing bodies and head teachers have clear responsibilities to ensure that their school adheres to the law. If a parent believes that a school is not complying with the requirements they are entitled to raise this with the governing body. If their complaint is not resolved and they believe that the school has failed to discharge its duty or acted unreasonably, they can raise their complaint with the Secretary of State for Education. Any such a complaint would be handled as set out in the Department's published school complaints process.

School Meals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on guidelines for school meals.

Elizabeth Truss: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has not had discussions on guidelines for school meals with the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt). However, this Department continues to work with the Department for Health on school food issues.
	The Department for Education has also commissioned Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent to lead an independent review of school food. As part of their work, the reviewers have been looking into school food guidelines and have met senior officials at Public Health England to discuss the impact of school meals on the nation's heath. The reviewers' team is in on-going contact with officials in the Department of Health.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will estimate his Department's total staffing requirement in full-time equivalent posts for fulfilling its minimum statutory obligations.

Elizabeth Truss: Following publication of the Department for Education Review in November, the Department is currently engaged in a business planning process, to identify the resource needed to deliver its work. This includes both ministerial priorities and statutory obligations.

WNS

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has given any contracts to WNS Management; and under what tendering process any such contracts were awarded.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 25 February 2013
	WNS Global Services (UK) Ltd provided some pro bono advice to the Education Funding Agency (EFA) on developing business processes to improve efficiency and service standards. Subsequently the EFA commissioned further workshops to equip their staff with the skills needed to implement improved processes. These were procured on a single tender basis at a cost of £18,000 plus VAT.

WNS

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what role WNS Management will play in his Department's Review.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The Review of the Department concluded in November 2012 and WNS Global Services (UK) Ltd played no role in it. As set out in my answer to PQ143616 today, WNS has, however, provided advice to the Education Funding Agency on developing business processes to improve efficiency and service standards.

Young Offenders: Numeracy

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the level of numeracy was of those detained in the secure youth estate in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 25 February 2013
	Data on the educational attainment of those detained are not collected centrally for the entire youth secure estate. Some data are collected centrally by the Education Funding Agency for the provision it funds for those aged under-18 in public sector young offender institutions.
	Of the 3,348 entrants, aged between 16 and 18, to these institutions who were newly assessed for numeracy skills in 2011/12: 6% were assessed on entry as being at level 2 or above (equivalent to GCSE Maths at Grade C or above); 35% at level 1 (equivalent to GCSE Maths at Grades D-G); and 59% at entry level or below (below the level of GCSE Grade G).